[Clinical course of autonomic nervous system disorders in veterans with consequences of combat mild brain injury].

Twenty-two veterans with combat mild brain injury (BI) were studied 7 and 14.9 years after BI. Along with evaluation of clinical symptoms, the authors investigated the autonomic tonus, autonomic background, regulatory brain systems function (cardiointervalography), emotional and personality state measured by Scmiscek-Litman (MMPI-modification) and Spilberger tests. Initial examination identified clinical syndromes, such as autonomic dystonia (70% of the patients), psychopathological syndromes represented by asthenic, affective, neurotic and neurotic-like states (90%), cochleo-vestibular (30%), insomniac (20%) states. Follow-up revealed these syndromes in 100, 100, 45, 20% of the cases, respectively. There was an increase in the dysfunction of nonspecific brain systems, which emerged clinically as a psychoautonomic syndrome in the form of autonomic dystonia with an elevation of sympathetic activity and emotional shift to depressive and hypochondriac disorders.