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A combined DTI and resting state functional MRI study in patients with postherpetic neuralgia

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Japanese Journal of Radiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

To explore the brain microstructural and functional changes in patients with postherpetic neuralgia (PHN).

Materials and methods

12 PHN patients and 12 healthy volunteers were enrolled. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and resting-state functional MRI (rfMRI) sequences were scanned by a 3T MR scanner. Fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) t-maps were obtained following DTI data processing. The amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) and fractional ALFF (fALFF) were obtained following rfMRI data processing. A two sample t-test was performed to compare the FA, MD, ALFF and fALFF differences between the PHN patients and healthy controls.

Results

No significant differences were noted with regard to the parameters gender, age and education years between the two groups. FA, MD, ALFF and/or fALFF indicated significant alterations in specific pain or pain-related brain regions, such as brainstem, cerebellum, parietal lobe, precuneus, frontal lobe, temporal lobe, postcentral and precentral gyrus, corpus callosum, cingulate gyrus, putamen and insula.

Conclusion

Multi-local alterations of spontaneous brain activity could form a network related to chronic pain, sensory discrimination, emotion and cognition, suggesting complicated central mechanisms of PHN. The combined-action of brain microstructure and function may play a critical role in comprehension of neurological mechanisms of PHN-induced pain.

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Funding

This work was mainly supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant numbers 81971573, 81671743, 81201079, 81471136, 81701098), Jiangsu Provincial Medical Youth Talent (Grant numbers QNRC2016709, QNRC2016740), Special Technical Project of Diagnosis and Treatment of Key Clinical Diseases of Suzhou (Grant number LCZX201801), and the "Six-one Project" for High-level Health Talents in Jiangsu Province (Grant number LGY2016035).

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Author notes

  1. Hui Dai and Chengcheng Jiang are co-first authors.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology, First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Shizi Street 188#, Suzhou, 215000, China

    Hui Dai, Chengcheng Jiang, Guanzuan Wu, Renjun Huang & Yonggang Li

  2. Institute of Medical Imaging, Soochow University, Suzhou City, 215000, Jiangsu Province, China

    Hui Dai & Yonggang Li

  3. SIEMENS Healthineers Ltd., Shanghai, 20000, China

    Zhongshuai Zhang

  4. Department of Anesthesiology, First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, 215000, China

    Xiaohong Jin & Lina Wang

Authors
  1. Hui Dai
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  2. Chengcheng Jiang
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  3. Guanzuan Wu
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  4. Renjun Huang
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  6. Zhongshuai Zhang
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  7. Lina Wang
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  8. Yonggang Li
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Lina Wang or Yonggang Li.

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The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Ethical statement

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Dai, H., Jiang, C., Wu, G. et al. A combined DTI and resting state functional MRI study in patients with postherpetic neuralgia. Jpn J Radiol 38, 440–450 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11604-020-00926-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11604-020-00926-4

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