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, July 26, 2009

plasma levels of natriuretic peptides in response to sympathectomy

The occurrence of receptor binding sites for natriuretic peptides was examined by in vitro receptor autoradiography. In contrast to the marked occurrence of natriuretic peptide receptor binding sites seen in the ventricular endocardium of control rats, the sympathectomized rats exhibited a decreased number of binding sites for natriuretic peptides in the endocardium of both the right and left chambers. Interestingly, this was found in parallel with a significant decrease of systolic and diastolic blood pressure and increased plasma levels of pro-atrial natriuretic peptide in the treated group of rats. These findings, together with those in previous studies, give support to an idea that one part of the blood pressure-decreasing effects, seen in patients treated with β-adrenergic blockade, might be through a reduction of the natriuretic clearance receptor C, then giving rise to increased levels of atrial natriuretic peptide.

http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=17030448