Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul 03312, Republic of Korea.
Medicina (Kaunas). 2023 May 29;59(6):1045. doi: 10.3390/medicina59061045.
The exact mechanism involved in the development of postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) is not yet known. The objective of this study was to evaluate longitudinal functional connectivity (FC) changes in the neuroimaging case series of patients with acute herpes zoster (HZ). Cases: This study included five patients who had symptoms of HZ. Functional magnetic resonance imaging was conducted at enrollment and 3 months to determine FC changes. Of the five patients, three developed PHN. In the PHN subjects, the FC of the left superior frontal gyrus (SFG) and the right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) were activated. The left SFG is known to contribute to higher cognitive functions and working memory. The right IFG is associated with pain processing and empathy for pain. Conclusions: Although only a few patients were enrolled in this study, the PHN could be affected by pain itself, as well as pain memory and psychological aspects such as empathy for pain.
确切的带状疱疹后神经痛（PHN）发病机制尚不清楚。本研究的目的是评估急性带状疱疹（HZ）患者神经影像学病例系列的纵向功能连接（FC）变化。
本研究纳入 5 例 HZ 症状患者。在入组时和 3 个月时进行功能磁共振成像，以确定 FC 的变化。5 例患者中有 3 例发生 PHN。在 PHN 患者中，左侧额上回（SFG）和右侧额下回（IFG）的 FC 被激活。已知左侧 SFG 有助于高级认知功能和工作记忆。右侧 IFG 与疼痛处理和对疼痛的同理心有关。
尽管本研究仅纳入了少数患者，但 PHN 可能受到疼痛本身以及疼痛记忆和同理心等心理方面的影响。
