Longitudinal follow-up of cardiac vagal activity in individuals undergoing endoscopic thoracic sympathectomy

• Autor(a) principal: Ferreira,Ana Paula
• Data de Publicação: 2018
• Outros Autores: Ramos,Plinio dos Santos, Montessi,Jorge, Montessi,Flávia Duarte, Nicolini,Eveline Montessi, Almeida,Edmilton Pereira de, Ricardo,Djalma Rabelo
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Jornal Brasileiro de Pneumologia (Online)
• Texto Completo: http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1806-37132018000600456
• topic: Hyperhidrosis; Sympathectomy; Autonomic nervous system; Exercise test; Electrocardiography

ABSTRACT Objective: To conduct a longitudinal investigation of cardiac vagal activity (CVA) by measuring resting HR and calculating the cardiac vagal index (CVI) in individuals undergoing sympathectomy for the treatment of primary hyperhidrosis. Methods: This was a descriptive longitudinal study involving 22 patients, 13 of whom were female. The mean age was 22.5 ± 8.8 years. The palms, soles, and axillae were the most commonly affected sites. Resting HR was measured by an electrocardiogram performed 20 min before the 4-second exercise test (4sET), which was used in order to evaluate CVA at three different time points: before surgery, one month after surgery, and four years after surgery. Results: Resting HR (expressed as mean ± SE) was found to have decreased significantly at 1 month after surgery (73.1 ± 1.6 bpm before surgery vs. 69.7 ± 1.2 bpm at one month after surgery; p = 0.01). However, the HR values obtained at four years after surgery tended to be similar to those obtained before surgery (p = 0.31). The CVI (expressed as mean ± SE) was found to have increased significantly at one month after surgery (1.44 ± 0.04 before surgery vs. 1.53 ± 0.03 at one month after surgery; p = 0.02). However, the CVI obtained at four years after surgery tended to be similar to that obtained before surgery (p = 0.10). Conclusions: At one month after sympathectomy for primary hyperhidrosis, patients present with changes in resting HR and CVA, both of which tend to return to baseline at four years after surgery.