Lovecraft and Poikilothermia Syndrome

Back to the 21st century for a moment.

Poikilothermia syndrome still not fully understood ...

Résumé / Abstract
Poikilothermia syndrome is a rare cause of intrinsic thermoregulatory failure. Patients with this syndrome regulate body temperature poorly, if at all.

Recently, a patient was referred to us who had clinical evidence of poikilothermia syndrome, as well as long-standing multiple sclerosis. Computerized tomography and magnetic resonance scanning failed to identify a hypothalamic lesion.

The patient was gradually warmed to sweating, and then cooled to vasoconstriction and shivering.

The core-temperature thresholds triggering each defence were calculated, after compensating for the changes in skin temperature. The calculated sweating threshold was 38.3 °C (normal: 37.0 ± 0.3 °C).

The vasoconstriction threshold was 34.4 °C (normal: 36.4 ± 0.3 °C).

The sweating-to-vasoconstriction interthreshold range was thus 4 °C. which is between 10 and 20 times the normal value.

The shivering threshold was 31.8 °C (normal: 35.6 ± ().3 °C).

The vasoconstriction-to-shivering range was thus 2.5 °C which is more than twice the normal value.

The pattern of thermoregulatory failure in this patient resembled that resulting from general anaesthesia.

Revue / Journal Title
Journal of internal medicine ISSN 0954-6820

1998, vol. 244, no5, pp. 431-436 (38 ref.)