The amount of compensatory sweating depends on the patient, the damage that the white rami communicans incurs, and the amount of cell body reorganization in the spinal cord after surgery.
Other potential complications include inadequate resection of the ganglia, gustatory sweating, pneumothorax, cardiac dysfunction, post-operative pain, and finally Horner’s syndrome secondary to resection of the stellate ganglion.
www.ubcmj.com/pdf/ubcmj_2_1_2010_24-29.pdf

After severing the cervical sympathetic trunk, the cells of the cervical sympathetic ganglion undergo transneuronic degeneration
After severing the sympathetic trunk, the cells of its origin undergo complete disintegration within a year.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1439-0442.1967.tb00255.x/abstract

Sunday, April 27, 2008

Changes in dopamine D2 receptors and 6-[18F]fluoro-L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine uptake in the brain of 6-hydroxydopamine-lesioned rats

Ishida Y, Kawai K, Magata Y, Takeda R, Hashiguchi H, Abe H, Mukai T, Saji H.

Department of Psychiatry, Miyazaki Medical College, University of Miyazaki, Miyazaki, Japan.

We studied tracer distributions in positron emission tomography of ligands for dopamine D1 receptors ([11C]SCH23390) and D2 receptors ([11C]raclopride) and the dopamine precursor analog 6-[18F]fluoro-L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine ([18F]FDOPA), as a measurement of presynaptic dopaminergic function, in the brain after 6-hydroxydopamine lesioning of the medial forebrain bundle in rats. The unilateral lesions were confirmed behaviorally by methamphetamine-induced rotation 2 weeks after lesioning, and the brains were analyzed by tissue dissection following an intravenous bolus of each tracer 3 weeks after lesioning. [11C]Raclopride, but not [11C]SCH23390, showed a higher accumulation in the striatum on the lesion side compared with that on the non-lesioned (intact) side. On the other hand, a lower accumulation of [18F]FDOPA was found in the striatum and cerebral cortex on the lesion side. Our studies demonstrate upregulation of dopamine D2 receptors in the striatum and a decrease in FDOPA uptake in both the striatum and cerebral cortex ipsilateral to the 6-hydroxydopamine lesions. Therefore, the combination of a D2 antagonist and FDOPA may provide a potentially useful method for assessing the effects of dopamine depletion in Parkinson's disease. Copyright 2004 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Neurodegener Dis. 2004;1(2-3):109-12.