Department of Psychology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
PLoS One. 2011 Apr 19;6(4):e19182. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0019182.
There are few diagnostic tools for chronic musculoskeletal pain as structural imaging methods seldom reveal pathological alterations. This is especially true for Whiplash Associated Disorder, for which physical signs of persistent injuries to the neck have yet to be established. Here, we sought to visualize inflammatory processes in the neck region by means Positron Emission Tomography using the tracer (11)C-D-deprenyl, a potential marker for inflammation. Twenty-two patients with enduring pain after a rear impact car accident (Whiplash Associated Disorder grade II) and 14 healthy controls were investigated. Patients displayed significantly elevated tracer uptake in the neck, particularly in regions around the spineous process of the second cervical vertebra. This suggests that whiplash patients have signs of local persistent peripheral tissue inflammation, which may potentially serve as a diagnostic biomarker. The present investigation demonstrates that painful processes in the periphery can be objectively visualized and quantified with PET and that (11)C-D-deprenyl is a promising tracer for these purposes.
对于慢性肌肉骨骼疼痛，几乎没有诊断工具，因为结构成像方法很少显示出病理改变。对于挥鞭样损伤综合征尤其如此，目前尚未确定颈部持续损伤的物理征象。在这里，我们试图通过正电子发射断层扫描（PET）使用示踪剂（11）C-D-去甲丙炔苯丙胺来可视化颈部的炎症过程，这是一种炎症的潜在标志物。我们调查了 22 名因汽车追尾事故（挥鞭样损伤综合征 II 级）后持续疼痛的患者和 14 名健康对照者。患者颈部的示踪剂摄取明显升高，特别是在第二颈椎棘突周围区域。这表明，挥鞭样损伤患者存在局部持续性周围组织炎症的迹象，这可能潜在地作为一种诊断生物标志物。本研究表明，PET 可以客观地可视化和量化外周的疼痛过程，并且（11）C-D-去甲丙炔苯丙胺是一种有前途的示踪剂。
