Vestibular dysfunction in familial dysautonomia. The Riley-Day syndrome.

The Riley-Day syndrome

Familial dysautonomia (Riley et al., 1949) is an autosomal recessive disease affecting Jews of Eastern European ancestry (Brunt and McKusick, 1970). As the name implies the autonomic nervous system is defective, and this is seen clinically as defective control of temperature, blood pressure, and swallowing, by skin blotching, excessive sweating, lack of tearing, and bowel disturbance. Abnormali...

A Neuropathological Study of Familial Dysautonomia (riley-day Syndrome) in Siblings.

Familial dysautonomia.

Familial dysautonomia is a rare syndrome of childhood affecting the nervous system. As the name suggests, dysfunction of the autonomic system is a prominent feature. It was first recognized as a separate entity by Riley, Day, Greeley and Langford (1949), the first large series being described by Riley (1952). So far, about 70 patients have been recorded. Though the fully developed syndrome is u...

Familial dysautonomia (Riley-Day syndrome).

Familial dysautonomia, also known as Riley-Day syndrome, is a disorder of autonomic nervous system with an autosomal recessive mode of inheritance. Reduction and/or loss of unmyelinated and small myelinated fibers is found, as reduction of dopamine beta-hydroxylase in blood. The diagnosis is based on clinical features: diminished lacrimation, insensitivity to pain, poor temperature control, abo...

Cold face test demonstrates parasympathetic cardiac dysfunction in familial dysautonomia.

In familial dysautonomia (FD), i.e., Riley-Day syndrome, parasympathetic dysfunction has not been sufficiently evaluated. The cold face test is a noninvasive method of activating trigeminal brain stem cardiovagal and sympathetic pathways and can be performed in patients with limited cooperation. We performed cold face tests in 11 FD patients and 15 controls. For 60 s, cold compresses (0-1 degre...