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Individualized analysis of skin thermosensory thresholds and sensitivity in heat-sensitive people with multiple sclerosis

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posted on 2020-05-27, 11:01 authored by Davide Filingeri, Georgia Chaseling, Aikaterini Christogianni, Kaltrina Feka, Antonino Bianco, Scott L Davis, Ollie Jay
We investigated whether and how multiple sclerosis (MS) alters thresholds for perceiving increases and decreases in local skin temperature, as well as the sensitivity to progressively greater temperature stimuli, amongst heat-sensitive people with MS. Eleven MS patients (5 M/6 F; 51.1 ± 8.6 y, EDSS 5.7 ± 1.9) and 11 healthy controls (CTR; 7 M/4 F; 50.3 ± 9.0 y) performed warm and cold threshold tests on a hairy skin site, on both sides of the body. They also underwent a thermosensitivity test where they rated (visual analogue scale) perceived magnitude of 4 local skin stimuli (i.e. 22, 26, 34, 38°C). Individual thresholds and slopes of linear regression for thermosensitivity were z-transformed for each MS patient, and used to determine individual thermosensory abnormalities. When considering both threshold and thermosensitivity, six out of our 11 heat-sensitive patients (54.5%) exhibited skin thermosensory abnormalities. Those abnormalities varied amongst patients in terms of type (threshold vs. thermosensitivity), quality (warm vs. cold), location (left vs. right side of the body) and extent. Each of those six patients presented unique thermosensory profiles. While some patients experienced thermosensory loss in both thresholds and sensitivity and on both sides of the body, others experienced cold thermosensory loss on one side of the body only. The observed individual variability in thermosensory function among heat-sensitive MS patients highlight the need for a patient-centered approach to assessing thermosensory dysfunction and its potential implications for heat stress vulnerability in this patient group.

Funding

Australian Government

Multiple Sclerosis Research Australia [Incubator Grant 14-009]

History

School

  • Design and Creative Arts

Department

  • Design

Published in

Temperature

Volume

8

Issue

1

Pages

21 - 29

Publisher

Taylor & Francis

Version

  • AM (Accepted Manuscript)

Rights holder

© Taylor & Francis

Publisher statement

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Temperature on 24 May 2020, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/23328940.2020.1769007.

Acceptance date

2020-05-11

Publication date

2020-05-24

Copyright date

2020

ISSN

2332-8940

eISSN

2332-8959

Language

  • en

Depositor

Dr Davide Filingeri. Deposit date: 26 May 2020

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