Gustatory sweating with special references to its mechanism

Abstract

A case of gustatory sweating associated with aneurysm in the right cervical region has been described. Gustatory sweating was observed not only on the right half of the face, but also on the right side of the neck and of the upper part of the frontal chest, on the right shoulder and the lateral side of the right arm. Thermoregulatory sweating was almost completely abolished in the involved area, but the responsiveness to intradermal acetylcholine of the sweat glands in the affected area was increased. Further, it was found that axon reflex sweating was elicited by intradermal injection of nicotine in the gustatory sweating area. Gustatory sweating in the present case can possibly be explained by assuming that an aberrant connection was formed by collateral sprouting from the efferent vagal nerve fibers into the preganglionic sympathetic sweat nerve fibers, very probably at about the level of the subclavian ansa.