Functional and Structural Changes in Postherpetic Neuralgia Brain Before and Six Months After Pain Relieving

OBJECTIVE: Multimodal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was used to detect whether 6 months after pain relieving, the structural and functional abnormalities in the brain of postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) patients are changeable. METHODS: Fifteen successfully treated PHN patients were enrolled; the brain activity and structural abnormalities were detected and compared before and 6 months after treatment. The functional parameters were evaluated with resting-state functional MRI technique, i.e., the regional homogeneity (ReHo) and fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (fALFF). Structural changes were detected with voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI). RESULTS: Six months after pain relieving, PHN brain showed different ReHo and fALFF values in the frontal lobe, caudate, supramarginal gyrus, anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), cuneus, middle temporal gyrus, and cerebellum. In addition, VBM intensity in the cerebellum increased; DKI values decreased in the thalamus and increased in the temporal lobe after successful treatment. CONCLUSION: Six months after pain relieving, functional and structural changes exist in PHN brain. Changes in some differential areas in PHN brain, such as ACC, frontal lobe, thalamus, and temporal lobe indicate that the central plasticity may be reversible after chronic pain relieving.