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Dysautonomia Center

Mission statement

The goal of INBU's dysautonomia center encompasses the diagnostic work up, therapeutic management and  research of patients with autonomic disorders following a highly interdisciplinary approach that includes (among others) interactions with cardiology, gastroenterology, neuro-urology, psychiatry and neuroradiology. Autonomic disorders include neurogenic orthostatic hypotension associated with MSA, Parkinson`s disease, pure autonomic failure and peripheral autonomic neuropathies. In addition, patients with postural tachycardia syndrome (PoTS) and vasovagal syncope (VVS) are frequently seen. Currently, 500 patients present to our autonomic unit annually.  The autonomic screening battery includes tilt table testing (TTT plus catechols and EEG as indicated) and quantitative sudomotor axon reflex testing (QSART) as well as ambulatory 24 hour blood pressure recordings.

People

University Staff

	Assoc.Prof. Dr. FANCIULLI Alessandra PhD Head of Dysautonomia Center alessandra.fanciulli@i-med.ac.at
	Dr. DÜRR Susanne susanne.duerr@tirol-kliniken.at
	Ass.Prof. Dr. GRANATA Roberta roberta.granata@i-med.ac.at
	Priv.Doz. Dr. KRISMER Florian PhD florian.krismer@i-med.ac.at

Post-Docs

Dr. LEYS Fabian, PhD fabian.leys@i-med.ac.at

PhD Students

	Dr. BONINI Ilenia ilenia.bonini@i-med.ac.at
	Dr. CALIÒ Bianca bianca.calio@i-med.ac.at
	Dr. CAMPESE Nicole nicole.campese@i-med.ac.at
	Mag. HALBEDL Heidi MSc heidi.halbedl@i-med.ac.at
	Dr. SIDOROFF Victoria victoria.sidoroff@tirol-kliniken.at

Medical Students

	KIRCHNER Sarah sarah.kirchner@student.i-med.ac.at
	KIRCHLER Elias elias.kirchler@student.i-med.ac.at
	MORINO Loraine loraine.marino@student.i-med.ac.at
	VERGINER Mara mara.verginer@student.i-med.ac.at

Biomedical Informatics

DI(FH) DI NDAYISABA Jean-Pierre PhD jean-pierre.ndayisaba@tirol-kliniken.at

Lab Technicians

	GSTREIN  Jakob Autonomic Lab Technician jakob.gstrein@tirol-kliniken.at
	RADL Karoline Autonomic Lab Technician karoline.radl@tirol-kliniken.at
	SPAN Christine Autonomic Lab Technician (Head) christine.span@tirol-kliniken.at
	UNTERWURZACHER Bettina Autonomic Lab Medical Assistant bettina.unterwurzacher@tirol-kliniken.at

Former members

Dr. Cecilia Raccagni PhD, Dr. Sabine Eschlböck, Silvia Hubmann, Jonas Melzer, Elke Tomeinschitz, Dr. Christine Kaindlstorfer PhD, Katharina Kerer, Nathalie Haag, Lucia Weißmantel

Research topics

Neurogenic orthostatic hypotension

• Neurogenic orthostatic hypotension: pathophysiology, evaluation, and management.
• Investigation of autonomic function in idiopathic REM sleep behavior disorder.
• Time course of symptomatic orthostatic hypotension and urinary incontinence in patients with postmortem confirmed parkinsonian syndromes: a clinicopathological study.
• Orthostatic hypotension and attention in Parkinson's disease with and without dementia. 

Diagnosis of MSA

• Second consensus statement on the diagnosis of multiple system atrophy.
• Red flags for multiple system atrophy.
• Recent developments in multiple system atrophy. J Neurol. 2009 in press. 

MSA Biomarker

• Progression of dopamine transporter decline in patients with the Parkinson variant of multiple system atrophy: a voxel-based analysis of [123I]β-CIT SPECT.
  Diffusion weighted imaging best discriminates PD from MSA-P: A comparison with tilt table testing and heart MIBG scintigraphy.
• Voxel-wise analysis of [123I]beta-CIT SPECT differentiates the Parkinson variant of multiple system atrophy from idiopathic Parkinson's disease.
• Progression of putaminal degeneration in multiple system atrophy: a serial diffusion MR study.
• Progression of brain atrophy in multiple system atrophy. A longitudinal VBM study.  

Therapeutic trials in MSA

• Minocycline 1-year therapy in multiple-system-atrophy
• Placebo-controlled trial of riluzole in multiple system atrophy.
• Safety and tolerability of growth hormone therapy in multiple system atrophy: a double-blind, placebo-controlled study. 

Research programme of the European MSA Study Group

• The natural history of multiple system atrophy: a prospective European cohort study.
• The Unified Multiple System Atrophy Rating Scale: intrarater reliability.
• Auswertung des weltweit größten MSA Registers
• Red flags for multiple system atrophy
• Progression of dysautonomia in multiple system atrophy: a prospective study of self-perceived impairment
• Progression of multiple system atrophy (MSA): a prospective natural history study by the European MSA Study Group (EMSA SG)
• The alpha-synuclein gene in multiple system atrophy
• Health-related quality of life in multiple system atrophy
• The European Multiple System Atrophy-Study Group (EMSA-SG)
• UCHL-1 gene in multiple system atrophy: a haplotype tagging approach
• The fragile X tremor ataxia syndrome in the differential diagnosis of multiple system atrophy: data from the EMSA Study Group