Neurogenic Hyperadrenergic Orthostatic Hypotension – A Newly-recognized Variant of Orthostatic Hypotension in Older Adults with Elevated Norepinephrine

摘要

Patients with neurogenic orthostatic hypotension (OH) typically have impaired sympathetic nervous system tone and therefore low levels of upright plasma norepinephrine. We report a subset of patients who clinically have typical neurogenic OH but who paradoxically have elevated upright levels of plasma norepinephrine.We retrospectively studied 83 OH patients evaluated at the Vanderbilt Autonomic Dysfunction Center between August 2007 and May 2013. Based upon standing norepinephrine, patients were dichotomized into a hyperadrenergic orthostatic hypotension group (hyperOH: upright NE ≥3.55 nmol/L [600 pg/mL], n=19) or a non-hyperadrenergic orthostatic hypotension group (nOH: upright NE < 3.55 nmol/L [600 pg/mL], n=64). Medical history and data from autonomic testing, including the Valsalva maneuver (VM), were analyzed. HyperOH patients had profound orthostatic falls in blood pressure, but less severe than in nOH (change in SBP: −53±31 mmHg vs. −68±33 mmHg, P=0.050; change in DBP: −18±23 mmHg vs. −30±17 mmHg, P=0.01). The expected compensatory increase in standing heart rate was similarly blunted in both hyperOH and nOH groups (84±15 bpm vs. 82±14 bpm; P=0.6). HyperOH patients had less severe sympathetic failure as evidenced by smaller falls in DBP during phase 2 of VM, and a shorter VM phase 4 blood pressure recovery time (16.5±8.9 sec vs. 31.6±16.6 sec; P<0.001) than nOH patients.Neurogenic hyperOH patients have severe neurogenic orthostatic hypotension, but have less severe adrenergic dysfunction than nOH patients. Further work is required to understand if hyperOH patients will progress to nOH or if this represents a different disorder.