Amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation after a single-trigger pain in patients with classical trigeminal neuralgia

Abstract

Objective This study aimed to explore the central mechanism of classical trigeminal neuralgia (CTN) by analyzing the static amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (sALFF) and dynamic amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (dALFF) in patients with CTN before and after a single-trigger pain. Methods This study included 48 patients (37 women and 11 men, age 55.65 ± 11.41 years) with CTN. All participants underwent 3D-T1WI and three times resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. The images were taken before stimulating the trigger zone (baseline), within 5 s after stimulating the trigger zone (triggering-5 s), and in the 30th minute after stimulating the trigger zone (triggering-30 min). The differences between the three measurements were analyzed using a repeated-measures analysis of variance. Results The sALFF values of the bilateral middle occipital gyrus and right cuneus gradually increased, and the values of the left posterior cingulum gyrus and bilateral superior frontal gyrus gradually decreased in triggering-5 s and triggering-30 min. The values of the right middle temporal gyrus and right thalamus decreased in triggering-5 s and subsequently increased in triggering-30 min. The sALFF values of the left superior temporal gyrus increased in triggering-5 s and then decreased in triggering-30 min. The dALFF values of the right fusiform gyrus, bilateral lingual gyrus, left middle temporal gyrus, and right cuneus gyrus gradually increased in both triggering-5 s and triggering-30 min. Conclusions The sALFF and dALFF values changed differently in multiple brain regions in triggering-5 s and triggering-30 min of CTN patients after a single trigger of pain, and dALFF is complementary to sALFF. The results might help explore the therapeutic targets for relieving pain and improving the quality of life of patients with CTN.

Alterations in regional homogeneity and multiple frequency amplitudes of low-frequency fluctuation in patients with new daily persistent headache: a resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging study

“…An ALFF study in patients with classical trigeminal neuralgia (CTN) included 48 patients with CTN found after a single trigger pain, and the ALFF values increased in the bilateral MOG in triggering-5 s and triggering-30 min [ 47 ]. A brain structure study via experimental induction of low back pain found that asymptomatic participants had greater grey matter density at MOG_L than participants with pain [ 48 ].…”

Altered trends of local brain function in classical trigeminal neuralgia patients after a single trigger pain

“…A total of 85 CTN patients were recruited from our Hospital. The inclusion criteria for patients with CTN were as follows: (1) the CTN patients were diagnosed according to the ICHD-3 10 ; (2) unilateral pain; (3) paroxysmal facial pain precipitated by trigger factors; (4) conventional magnetic resonance imaging examination revealing no evidence of abnormal brain signals; (5) no additional neurological or sensory deficits in all patients; (6) no previous surgical or other invasive procedures for CTN; (7) no contraindications to MRI scanning; (8) patients underwent microvascular decompression and confirmed that the NVC was existed; and (9) right-handness [ 39 ].…”

Alteration of brain network centrality in CTN patients after a single triggering pain

“…The inclusion criteria for patients with CTN were as follows: (1) patients diagnosed with CTN according to the third edition of the International Classification of Headache Disorders (ICHD-3) and demonstration of NVC (not simply contact) on MRI with morphological changes (atrophy or dislocation) in the trigeminal nerve root; (2) unilateral pain in the distribution of one or more branches of the trigeminal nerve; (3) paroxysmal facial pain precipitated by trigger factors (such as light touching of the face and opening mouth); (4) conventional MRI T1 weighted imaging (T1WI) and T2WI examination showed no abnormal brain signals; (5) no additional neurological or sensory deficits in all patients; (6) no previous surgical or other invasive procedures for CTN; (7) no contraindications to MR scanning; (8) patients underwent microvascular decompression and presented NVC which not only contact; (9) right-handed patients. The exclusion criteria were as follows: (1) patients with CTN who had undergone surgical treatment before; (2) headaches and other paroxysmal or chronic pain conditions; (3) a family history of headache or other pain in first-degree relatives; (4) other somatic or psychiatric conditions; (5) left-handedness; (6) contraindications to MRI ( Ge et al, 2022a ).…”

“…The regional homogeneity (ReHo), the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF), and voxel-based degree centrality (DC) are the data-driven analysis methods of rs-fMRI. ReHo reflects the temporal consistency of spontaneous neural activity between a given voxel and its neighbors ( Zang et al, 2004 ; Ge et al, 2022a ). Wang et al (2015) ; Xiang et al (2019) found that compared to healthy controls (HCs), the ReHo values of multiple brain regions are increased in CTN patients.…”