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 20, 2008

Noradrenaline in basic models of depression.

This review reports anatomical studies evaluating central and peripheral alpha 2- and beta-adrenoceptors. The results suggest abnormalities exist in the noradrenergic system in depressed patients. Most animal models involve the use of stress to simulate depression in man. All models that have been developed lead to differential changes in noradrenergic function. We have assessed the effects of reboxetine, a novel, selective noradrenaline-reuptake inhibitor (NARI) in olfactory bulbectomised rats, a procedure that induces significant changes in amygdala function. Reboxetine is an effective antidepressant in the forced swim test and open field test in bulbectomised rats. Unlike the tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), reboxetine is ineffective in the 8-OH-DPAT hypothermia test, indicating that reboxetine is selective for the noradrenergic system. Owing to the abnormalities that occur in depression, it would seem sensible to target the noradrenergic system for treatment of this condition.
Leonard BE.
Department of Pharmacology, University College, Galway, Ireland.