Gray matter changes in patients with chronic primary trigeminal neuralgia: A voxel-based morphometric study

Objective: To assess the morphological changes of cerebral gray matter (GM) in patients with chronic primary trigeminal neuralgia (CPTN) using voxel-based morphometry (VBM). Methods: Anatomical data of 30 patients with CPTN and 30 age- and sex-matched healthy volunteers were included and analyzed with VBM DARTEL algorithm. Then statistical analysis was performed to compare the morphological changes of GM and the correlation between GM volume (GMV) and clinical indexes containing disease duration and pain scores of CPTN. Results: Compared with healthy controls, decreased GMV was found in bilateral posterior portion of anterior cingulated cortex (ACC), bilateral middle cingulated cortex (MCC), bilateral temporal lobe, bilateral thalamus, left hippocampal gyrus and parahippocampal gyrus, right precentral gyrus, as well as increased GMV in right posterior cingulated cortex (PCC) and right parietal lobe in CPTN patients (all, P<0.05). Moreover, no linear correlations were found between the above-mentioned GMV changes and clinical indexes. Conclusion: CPTN patients have multiple cerebral regions of GMV abnormality, and VBM method can reveal these changes, which may provide objective image information to evaluate the cerebral morphological abnormalities of CPTN.