Cardiovascular reflexes in multiple sclerosis.

Cardiovascular autonomic function was studied in 50 patients with multiple sclerosis using 5 simple non-invasive tests: the heart rate responses to the Valsalva manoeuvre, deep breathing and standing, and the blood pressure responses to standing and sustained handgrip. Abnormalities of one or more tests were found in 37 subjects. There was a variable distribution of abnormalities with most occurring in the heart rate response to deep breathing and the blood pressure response to sustained handgrip. This pattern contrasts with that in diabetics and probably reflects the scattered central pathological lesions of multiple sclerosis.