Autonomic neuropathy in chronic alcoholism: evaluation of cardiovascular, pupillary and sympathetic skin responses.

Autonomic nerve function was evaluated in 30 alcoholics and 30 healthy subjects by means of cardiovascular function tests, pupil cycle time (PCT), and sympathetic skin responses (SSR). Nutritional status was assessed by anthropometric parameters. Autonomic cardiovascular dysfunction was classified as early involvement in 5 patients, definite in 8, severe in 6 and atypical in 3. PCT was abnormal in 17 alcoholics. The duration of PCT became progressively longer as the severity of cardiovascular involvement increased. SSR was absent in 4 alcoholics in the palm and in 16 in the sole. These findings indicate that sympathetic and parasympathetic mediated functions are abnormal in chronic alcoholics with a similar frequency, involving different sites of the autonomic nervous system under variable patterns. Significant correlations between nutritional status and autonomic neuropathy were found.