Recent advances in autonomic neurology: An overview

The importance of autonomic neurology has grown exponentially since the development of neuroscience, genetics, and immunology. Advances in this field have made it possible to elucidate the pathomechanism of dysautonomia and autonomic nervous system interactions in both health and disease. In the special issue “Recent Advances in Autonomic Neurology,” four articles covering a wide range of topics in clinical neuroscience, including degenerative diseases, genetic disorders, immune-mediated neuropathy, and autoimmune encephalitis, were published. This review focused on presenting the recent progress in the clinical approaches for dysautonomia in autoimmune diseases, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome, and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Of particular current concern, is Long COVID, defined as the persistence of symptoms after 3 weeks from being infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), may involve autonomic dysfunction. The research and clinical practice for autonomic dysfunction in neurology is constantly evolving, which is exemplified by the current clinical research on Long COVID.