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CHAPTER 26
FIG. 155.
they may experience a feeling of oppression in the chest associated with difficulty in
breathing, shivering sensation or feeling hot, and pounding headache, in particular
in the back of the head or between the eyes. An officer remarked: 'I always know when
my bladder is full because my heart starts to pound and to beat very slowly against
resistance'. Other patients experienced hot ears when their bladders were distended or
when passing urine automatically. Some patients with complete lesions below Ty or
Tio with hyperpathic zones at the level of the cord transection may complain about
increased pain at that level when the bladder is distended. However, all these subjective
and objective manifestations described promptly disappear when the bladder (or any
other viscera) distension and hyperactivity is released, as demonstrated in all Figs, at
the end of the experiment.
Mechanism
In analysing the complex mechanism involved in the hyperactivity and dysfunction
of the autonomic system, it can be stated that the primary reflex response to vesical
reflex hyperactivity is vasoconstriction, as evidenced by the sharp decrease of blood flow,
