Metabolic activity in the insular cortex and hypothalamus predicts hot flashes: an FDG-PET study.

ABSTRACT:

Context

Hot flashes are a common side effect of adjuvant endocrine therapies (AET; leuprolide, tamoxifen, aromatase inhibitors) that reduce quality of life and treatment adherence in breast cancer patients. Because hot flashes affect only some women, preexisting neurobiological traits might predispose to their development. Previous studies have implicated the insula during the perception of hot flashes and the hypothalamus in thermoregulatory dysfunction.

Objective

The aim of the study was to understand whether neurobiological factors predict hot flashes.

Design

[18F]-Fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) brain scans coregistered with structural magnetic resonance imaging were used to determine whether metabolic activity in the insula and hypotha

SUBMITTER: Joffe H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3791433 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature