Exploratory study on the ascending pain pathway in patients with chronic neck and shoulder pain based on combined brain and spinal cord diffusion tensor imaging.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

To explore the changes in the white matter microstructure of the ascending pain conduction pathways in patients with chronic neck and shoulder pain (CNSP) using combined brain and spinal cord diffusion tensor imaging techniques, and to assess its correlation with clinical indicators and cognitive functions.

Materials and methods

A 3.0T MRI scanner was used to perform combined brain and spinal cord diffusion tensor imaging scans on 31 CNSP patients and 24 healthy controls (HCs), extracting the spinothalamic tract (STT) and quantitatively analyzing the fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) which reflect the microstructural integrity of nerve fibers. Additionally, these differences were subjected to partial correlation analysis in relation to Visual Ana

SUBMITTER: Qiu Z 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11861079 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature