Miraval Fiorella K, Shie Vivian L, Morales-Quezada Leon, Santiago Carolina, Fernandes-Marcondes Bianca, Nadler Deborah, Ryan Colleen M, Schneider Jeffrey C, Fregni Felipe
Spaulding Center of Neuromodulation, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Ann Rehabil Med. 2017 Aug;41(4):693-700. doi: 10.5535/arm.2017.41.4.693. Epub 2017 Aug 31.
To explore and determine the reorganizational changes in the cortical neural circuits associated with pruritis, this study was undertaken to compare the electroencephalography (EEG) changes in burn patients having primary symptoms of chronic itching (pruritis) and their paired healthy subjects.
Eight subjects were recruited for this exploratory pilot study: 4 patients with pruritus after burn injury matched by gender and age with 4 healthy subjects. EEG recordings were analyzed for absolute alpha, low beta, high beta, and theta power for both groups.
The mean age of the burn patients was 41.75 years; while the mean age for the matched healthy subjects was 41.5 years. All subjects were male. A decreased alpha activity was observed in the occipital channels (0.82 vs. 1.4; p=0.01) and a decreased low beta activity in the frontal area (0.22 vs. 0.4; p=0.049) in eyes closed conditions. An overall decreased theta trend was observed in both the eyes open and eyes closed conditions in burn patients, compared to healthy individuals.
This preliminary study presents initial evidence that chronic pruritus in burn subjects may be associated with brain reorganizational changes at the cortical level characterized by an EEG pattern.
为了探索并确定与瘙痒相关的皮质神经回路的重组变化，本研究对有慢性瘙痒（瘙痒症）主要症状的烧伤患者及其配对的健康受试者的脑电图（EEG）变化进行比较。
招募8名受试者参与这项探索性初步研究：4名烧伤后瘙痒患者，按性别和年龄与4名健康受试者配对。对两组的脑电图记录进行绝对α波、低β波、高β波和θ波功率分析。
烧伤患者的平均年龄为41.75岁；而配对健康受试者的平均年龄为41.5岁。所有受试者均为男性。闭眼条件下，枕叶通道的α波活动降低（0.82对1.4；p = 0.01），额叶区域的低β波活动降低（0.22对0.4；p = 0.049）。与健康个体相比，烧伤患者在睁眼和闭眼条件下均观察到整体θ波趋势降低。
这项初步研究提供了初步证据，表明烧伤患者的慢性瘙痒可能与以脑电图模式为特征的皮质水平的脑重组变化有关。
