Altered functional connectivity of the nucleus tractus solitarii in patients with chronic cough after lung surgery: an rs‐fMRI study

BACKGROUND: To explore the altered functional connectivity (FC) of the nucleus tractus solitarii (NTS) in patients with chronic cough after lung surgery using resting‐state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs‐fMRI), and the association between abnormal FC and clinical scale scores. METHODS: A total of 22 patients with chronic cough after lung surgery and 22 healthy controls were included. Visual analog scale (VAS), Mandarin Chinese version of the Leicester Cough Questionnaire (LCQ‐MC), and Hamilton anxiety rating scale (HAMA) scores were assessed, and rs‐fMRI data were collected. The FC analysis was performed using the NTS as the seed point, and FC values with all voxels in the whole brain were calculated. A two‐sample t‐test was used to compare FC differences between the two groups. The FC values of brain regions with differences were extracted and correlated with clinical scale scores. RESULTS: In comparison to healthy controls, FC values in the NTS and anterior cingulate cortex(ACC) were reduced in patients with chronic cough after lung surgery (GRF correction, p‐voxel < 0.005, p‐cluster < 0.05) which were positively correlated with LCQ‐MC scores (r = 0.534, p = 0.011), but with VAS (r = −0.500, p = 0.018), HAMA (r = −0.713, p < 0.001) scores were negatively correlated. CONCLUSIONS: Reduced FC of the NTS with ACC may be associated with cough hypersensitivity and may contribute to anxiety in patients with chronic cough after lung surgery.