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Psychophysiological Investigations of Patients with Unilateral Symptoms in the Hyperventilation Syndrome

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

G. O'Sullivan ,
I. Harvey ,
C. Bass ,
M. Sheehy ,
B. Toone  and
S. Turner
G. O'Sullivan*
Affiliation:
Department of Experimental Psychopathology, Institute of Psychiatry, London SE5
I. Harvey
Affiliation:
The National Hospital for Nervous Diseases, Queen Square, London WC1
C. Bass
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Medicine, King's College Hospital, Denmark Hill, London SE5
M. Sheehy
Affiliation:
King's College Hospital, Denmark Hill, London SE5
B. Toone
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Medicine, King's College Hospital, Denmark Hill, London SE5
S. Turner
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Middlesex Hospital, Mortimer Street, London W1
*
∗ Orchard House, Joyce Green Hospital, Dartford, Kent DA1 5PL
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Abstract

Anxiety states sometimes lead to hyperventilation (HV) which may, in turn, give rise to a variety of physical symptoms. One way in which HV may present is with unilateral somatosensory symptoms, often left-sided. We report nine such cases. The mechanism of lateralisation was examined using EEG and bilateral somatosensory evoked potentials which were carried out before and after HV. No difference in conduction velocity was found between affected and unaffected arms, but non-specific abnormalities were frequently noted in the EEGs. The results support the role of a central rather than a peripheral mechanism in the production of unilateral symptoms in HV.

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Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 160 , Issue 5 , May 1992 , pp. 664 - 667
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1992 

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