Abstract
Patients with complete and incomplete lesions at different levels of the spinal cord were moved on a tilt table into the erect position. With lesions above T6 fainting occurred in every case except one; with lesions below T6 the incidence of fainting was not much higher than in normal subjects in similar tests.
The response of the heart rate and blood pressure differs in fainting and non-fainting subjects, during tilt and subsequent recumbency; but heart rate and blood pressure changes in the fainting group do not bear much relation to the level of the lesion.
The catecholamine levels of the peripheral plasma were increased in the erect posture in both fainting and non-fainting subjects and the values observed were related to the level and completeness of the lesion. When fainting occurred, the plasma adrenaline value often exceeded the noradrenaline value, but this was not found when consciousness was retained.
The effects of rapid postural change in paraplegics are discussed in relation to the central control of the peripheral vascular bed, and the liberation of noradrenaline from sympathetic nerve-endings.
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Guttmann, L., Munro, A., Robinson, R. et al. Effect of tilting on the cardiovascular responses and plasma catecholamine levels in spinal man. Spinal Cord 1, 4–18 (1963). https://doi.org/10.1038/sc.1963.2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sc.1963.2
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