The term sympathicotonia has been used by Danielopolu1 in his classification of the functional abnormalities of the vegetative nervous system to designate a hyperactivity of the sympathetic innervation as compared with that of the parasympathetic. The subject has been completely reviewed by Guillaume,2 who mentioned the lack of information concerning this condition in children and suggested the possibility that it occurs far more frequently than is supposed at present.
This paper consists of the case history of a child presenting bizarre paroxysms of abdominal pain, associated with collateral observations which coincide with the clinical picture of sympthaticotonia as described previously for adults. Therapy based on the assumption that an imbalance existed between the two divisions of the autonomic nervous system was singularly successful in relieving symptoms that had existed for years, and that had previously resisted both medical and surgical treatment.
REPORT OF CASE
History.—D. G., a