• Annals of Clinical Neurophysiology
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.61-65
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• 2010

Background: Orthostatic hypotension (OH) refers to a fall in systolic blood pressure (BP) of 20 mmHg or more, or in diastolic BP of 10 mm Hg or more within 3 minutes of standing up. The head-up tilt test (HUT) is the most useful, but potentially invasive test for the diagnosis of OH. The purpose of this study was to identify the usefulness of spontaneous baroreflex sensitivity (sBRS). Methods: Ninety one patients with orthostatic intolerance, in whom the HUT data were available, were included in the study. Patients were classified into HUT-positive (group I) and HUT-negative (group II) group. Twenty five healthy volunteers served as normal controls, and were designated as group III. In all subjects, beat-to-beat BP and heart rate were recorded using BeatScope 1.1a. We collected the 50 sBRS data in each patient in a supine position. The average value of one to ten of 50 sBRS data was defined as sBRS10, one to twenty as sBRS20, one to thirty as sBRS 30, one to forty as sBRS 40, and one to fifty as sBRS 50. Differences in sBRS10 and sBRS50 levels were statistically analyzed and compared between groups I, II, and III. Results: No significant difference in the sBRS50 level was found between Groups II and III. sBRS50 was significantly lower in Group I than in Groups II and III (p<0.05), and the same pattern of differences was observed for sBRS40, sBRS30, sBRS20, and sBRS10. Conclusions: Patients with OH showed significantly lower sBRS levels than HUT-negative patients or normal controls. Our study implies that a supine-position sBRS would provide additional diagnostic information for OH.