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Patterns of Cerebral Activation to Innocuous and Noxious Heat Stimulations in Neuropathic Pain

NCT00713024 · Status: UNKNOWN · Type: OBSERVATIONAL · Enrollment: 150

Last updated 2010-06-29

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

Patients with neuropathic pain exhibit hyperalgesia and allodynia. Although both peripheral and central determinants are recognized for the pathophysiological basis of neuropathic pain following peripheral injury, the modulating effect on pain processing in brain by peripheral mechanisms remains elusive. Here, we will systematically compare the sensory symptoms and brain activation to innocuous and noxious thermal stimulation applied to the distal leg, foot dorsum or forearm between patients with peripheral neuropathy and healthy controls. Functional magnetic resonance imaging will be used to define brain activation to somatic stimulation with noxious and innocuous stimuli. The blood-oxygenation-level-dependent signals will be correlated with visual analogue scale scores and sensory and affective components obtained from the Short-Form McGill Pain Questionnaire. Brain activation during thermal stimulation in patients with neuropathic pain will be clarified, and we will also analyze the potential relationships between the topography, quality and intensity of the different painful symptoms (i.e. spontaneous ongoing pain, paroxysmal pain, allodynia, hyperalgesia) and the magnitude and pattern of brain activation during thermal stimulation. This will add in our understanding in the pathophysiology of brain modulation in pain and provide clinically useful message toward the potential therapeutics in the management of neuropathic pain.

Conditions

  • Neuropathic Pain

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • National Taiwan University Hospital

    lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

  • Sung-Tsang Hsieh, MD, PhD · Department of Neurology, National Taiwan University Hospital

Eligibility

Min Age
20 Years
Max Age
70 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2008-01-31
Primary Completion
2010-12-31
Completion
2010-12-31

Countries

  • Taiwan

Study Locations

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Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT00713024 on ClinicalTrials.gov