From nerve to brain: a comprehensive assessment of morphological and functional neural changes associated with trigeminal neuralgia using high-field MRI.

Anno
2019
Proponente Francesca Caramia - Professore Associato
Sottosettore ERC del proponente del progetto
LS7_1
Componenti gruppo di ricerca
Componente Categoria
Franco Burla Componenti strutturati del gruppo di ricerca
Andrea Truini Componenti strutturati del gruppo di ricerca
Marco Fiorelli Componenti strutturati del gruppo di ricerca
Componente Qualifica Struttura Categoria
Eytan Raz Associate Professor in Radiology NYU Langone Hospitals New York, NY Altro personale aggregato Sapienza o esterni, titolari di borse di studio di ricerca
Caterina Mainero Associate Professor of Radiology, Harvard Medical School Assistant in Neuroscience, Massachusetts General Hospital Director Multiple Sclerosis Research at the Athinoula Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging The Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School Altro personale aggregato Sapienza o esterni, titolari di borse di studio di ricerca
Abstract

Prumary trigeminal neuralgia (PTN) is supposedly caused by an ectatic blood vessel affecting the trigeminal nerve at the root entry zone of the brain stem, i.e. a neurovascular conflict (NVC). Recent evidence suggests an additional central component within trigeminal pain-processing in the pathophysiology of PTN. Consistently with this hypothesis structural grey and white matter alterations and functional cerebral changes in PTN patients have been described. In this study, we aim at investigating the link between NVC, trigeminal nerves and brain changes in PTN patients (TRI) compared to healthy controls (HC). Moreover, we will explore the association with clinical variables. Fifty patients with PTN will be enrolled in this study. Fifty matched HC will be also included. All subjects will undergo a complete neuropsychological assessment and MRI scan with a 3T system (Verio, Siemens). The MRI exam will include conventional sequences to identify neurovascular conflict, 3D-T2-weighted CISS sequences to obtain a quantitative evaluation of nerve volume, T1-FSPGR sequences to perform calculation of grey matter volumes using, BOLD fMRI sequences to evaluate functional brain connectivity. Data analysis will consist in evaluation of severity of neurovascular conflict (NVC: grade 0 no contact between nerve and vessel, grade 1 contact, grade 2 distortion or dislocation of nerve) quantitative evaluation of nerve volume and nerve volume asymmetry using MIPAV, quantification of grey matter volumes using voxel-based morphometry (VBM), surface based morphometry (SBM) and regional based morphometry (RBM) (CAT, SPM12), analysis of functional connectivity using both seed analysis and independent component analysis (CONN, SPM12). Statistical analysis will be conducted to investigate the relationship between clinical variables (age, duration of disease, pain intensity, duration and frequency of attacks) and MR imaging data (SPSS 25).

ERC
LS5_7, LS7_1, SH4_4
Keywords:
NEURORADIOLOGIA, NEUROLOGIA, MECCANISMI DEL DOLORE, ANATOMIA DESCRITTIVA E FUNZIONALE

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