Lateralization Effects on Cerebral Blood Flow in Patients With Unilateral Pulsatile Tinnitus Measured With Arterial Spin Labeling

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate cerebral blood flow (CBF) differences in patients with left- and right-sided pulsatile tinnitus (LPT and RPT) and healthy controls (HCs) to further explore the lateralization effects of PT using arterial spin labeling (ASL). Methods: ASL data from 21 RPT patients, 17 LPT patients and 21 HCs were reviewed. Voxel-wise analysis and region of interest analysis were performed to explore differences in CBF among the three groups. Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI) score and tinnitus duration were obtained from each patient. Results: Voxel-wise analysis showed that the CBF of the left inferior parietal gyrus was increased in both RPT and LPT patients compared with HCs ( P < 0.001). Region of interest analysis revealed that the CBF of the left primary auditory cortex (PAC) was higher than that of the right, while the CBF of the right secondary auditory cortex (SAC) and auditory association cortex was higher than that of the left. These lateralization effects were present in all three groups. Compared with HCs, RPT patients showed increased CBF in the left PAC and SAC (PAC: P = 0.036; SAC: P = 0.012). No significant correlations were found between PT duration or THI score and altered CBF in above regions. Conclusion: Increased CBF in the left inferior parietal gyrus is a common feature in both RPT and LPT patients, regardless of the perceived side of PT. The lateralization effects of auditory cortices may be a physiological characteristic of the normal brain. These findings may provide a new perspective for understanding the neurological pathophysiology of PT.

Application of pseudocontinuous arterial spin labeling perfusion imaging in children with autism spectrum disorders

“…The ASL method offers several advantages: it is safe, non-invasive, non-radioactive, easy to acquire, and reproducible. Its high spatial resolution, accuracy, and capacity to quantitatively demonstrate perfusion abnormalities make ASL a reliable physiological marker of neural activity ( Chen et al, 2015 ; Ivanov et al, 2017 ; Li et al, 2020 ). It has been widely used in areas of neurodevelopmental disorders such as periventricular leukomalacia, ischemic stroke, and sickle-cell-related cerebral ischemia ( Smith et al, 2019 ).…”

Altered Neurovascular Coupling in Unilateral Pulsatile Tinnitus

“…Thus, this technique has become a promising alternative technique and is widely used in various disease states (Haller et al, 2016). Recent studies have used ASL to identify CBF changes in multiple brain regions of PT patients (Li et al, 2020(Li et al, , 2021b.…”

Cerebral Blood Flow Pattern Changes in Unilateral Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss

“…Arterial spin labeling (ASL) is an MRI technique used to non-invasively measure CBF by magnetically labeling the arterial water ( Haller et al, 2016 ). Regional brain CBF is tightly coupled with regional metabolism and neuronal activity ( Li et al, 2020 ). This study aimed to use three-dimensional pseudo-continuous (3D-pCASL) to detect regional CBF pattern changes in unilateral SSNHL patients by region of interest (ROI) analysis.…”