The MRI study of brain functional changes in cervical vertigo patients / 中华骨科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To explore the brain function changes in patients with cervical vertigo using functional MRI.Methods:Twenty-two patients who were diagnosed with cervical vertigo were recruited in this study for functional MRI (fMRI) analysis, while 25 age- and sex-matched adult healthy individuals were chose forhealthy controls. The Visual Analogue Scale(VAS) and Dizziness Handicap Inventory (DHI) were used to access the severity of cervical vertigo, and the six-point categorical rating scale was used to measure the frequency of vertigo. Functional MRI was used to investigate the regions with brain functional changes between the cervical vertigo group and the control group. All the data was analyzed using low-frequency oscillation amplitude (ALFF) to explore local brain function changes. The ALFF values between the two groups were tested by two independent samples t-tests. Finally, the ALFF values in abnormal brain regions were extracted using the REST software package and correlated with the diseaseduration of cervical vertigo and thevertigo scores (VAS and DHI) using Pearson correlation analysis. P <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results:Compared to healthy controls, patients with cervical vertigo haddecreased ALFF valuesin the left superior temporal gyrus (voxel=45, t=-3.36), right superior temporal gyrus (voxel=32, t=-2.82) and left supramarginal gyrus (voxel=57, t=-4.85), and increased ALFF values in the left and right cerebellum (voxel=41, t=4.26; voxel=33, t=4.57; respectively)(AlphaSim Rest, all P values >0.05). The ALFF values of left and right superior temporal gyrus were negatively correlated with the disease duration of vertigo (left R2=0.437, right R2==0.259), the VAS score (left R2==0.453, right R2==0.341) and DHI score (left R2=0.553, right R2=0.594), respectively, and there were significant differences (all P values < 0.05). The ALFF values of left and right cerebellum were positively correlated with the disease duration of vertigo (left R2==0.555, right R2=0.490) and the VAS score (left R2=0.307, right R2=0.282) and DHI score (left R2=0.632, right R2=0.591), respectively, and the differences were significant (all P values < 0.05). Conclusion:Patients with cervical vertigo have reduced spontaneous nerve activity in bilateral Vestibular cortex, and increased spontaneous nerve activity in the bilateral cerebellum. The brain functional changes were correlated with the disease duration and the severity of vertigo.