Hundreds of articles have been published on primary hyperhidrosis, which affects approximately 3% of the general population, and despite decades of research we have no good pathophysiologic explanation for this disorder. We know that the sweat glands of patients with primary hyperhidrosis are normal in number and size but that hyperhidrotic patients have an abnormal sympathetic skin response. Few realize that the symptoms of primary hyperhidrosis, which may seem trivial to the general public, can cause so much social embarrassment in some patients that quality of life is reduced to a score comparable with that of end-stage renal disease, rheumatoid arthritis, or multiple sclerosis [1Cina C.S. Clase C.M. The Illness Intrusiveness Rating Scale: a measure of severity in individuals with hyperhidrosis.Qual Life Res. 1999; 8: 693-698Crossref PubMed Scopus (82) Google Scholar]. There are many surgical and nonsurgical ways to treat patients with primary hyperhidrosis and it is generally accepted that a sympathetic operation provides the only permanent treatment option. In the present study, de Moura Júnior and coauthors [2de Moura Júnior N.B. das-Neves-Pereira J.C. de Oliveira F.R.G. et al.Expression of acetylcholine and its receptor in human sympathetic ganglia in primary hyperhidrosis.Ann Thorac Surg. 2013; 95: 465-471Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (28) Google Scholar] used immunohistochemistry to evaluate the sympathetic ganglia from patients with palmar hyperhidrosis and used brain-dead organ donors with no history of hyperhidrosis as control individuals. They quantified the expression of primary antibodies against receptor subunits as well as acetylcholine, which is the primary neurotransmitter in sympathetic ganglia, and they found a significant difference between the two groups. The reason for this difference is speculative, but could it suggest that increased acetylcholine expression in the ganglia of patients may be related to hyperactivity of the central portion of the sympathetic nervous system, or that the sympathetic ganglia are able to modulate the nervous stimuli from the central nervous system and play a role in the pathophysiology of primary hyperhidrosis. The authors also made a new observation that the diameter of thoracic sympathetic chain ganglia was larger in hyperhidrotic patients. There are obvious limitations with the present study, because the two groups differed with respect to age and sex, and this should be addressed in future studies. Nevertheless, this article is a major contribution to our understanding of primary hyperhidrosis, providing a hint to its primary cause, and this is valuable information to thoracic surgeons and their patients. More importantly, this article points to where future research should be directed for complete elucidation and understanding of hyperhidrosis, which is such a frequent problem. Expression of Acetylcholine and Its Receptor in Human Sympathetic Ganglia in Primary HyperhidrosisThe Annals of Thoracic SurgeryVol. 95Issue 2PreviewThe pathophysiologic characteristics of primary hyperhidrosis are not well understood and seem to be related to a sympathetic nervous system dysfunction. The resection of thoracic sympathetic chain ganglia is the most effective treatment for hyperhidrosis; however sympathetic ganglia function in normal individuals and in patients with hyperhidrosis is unknown. Full-Text PDF
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