OBJECTIVE To investigate altered prefrontal white matter integrity in complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) and its relationship with the degree of pain catastrophizing. DESIGN Cross-sectional study. SETTING University hospital. PARTICIPANTS Twenty-one CRPS patients and 49 healthy controls. INTERVENTIONS Not applicable. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES The fractional anisotropy values within the prefrontal regions reflecting the structural integrity of white matter were measured in CRPS patients and healthy controls using diffusion tensor imaging. The degree of pain catastrophizing was also evaluated in CRPS patients. RESULTS The structural integrity of the prefrontal white matter was lower in CRPS patients compared with healthy controls (P = .03). In addition, lower structural integrity in the prefrontal cortex was correlated with a higher degree of pain catastrophizing among CRPS patients (r = -0.54, P = .01). CONCLUSIONS Our findings suggest that pain catastrophizing, which is frequently reported in patients with CRPS, may be associated with the dysfunction of the prefrontal white matter.

中文翻译：

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与复杂区域疼痛综合征患者疼痛灾难化相关的前额叶白质异常

目的 研究复杂区域疼痛综合征（CRPS）中前额叶白质完整性的改变及其与疼痛灾难化程度的关系。设计横断面研究。设置大学医院。参与者 21 名 CRPS 患者和 49 名健康对照。干预 不适用。主要观察指标 使用弥散张量成像测量 CRPS 患者和健康对照的前额叶区域内反映白质结构完整性的各向异性分数值。还在 CRPS 患者中评估了疼痛灾难化的程度。结果 与健康对照组相比，CRPS 患者的前额叶白质结构完整性较低 (P = .03)。此外，前额叶皮层结构完整性较低与 CRPS 患者的疼痛灾难化程度较高相关（r = -0.54，P = .01）。结论 我们的研究结果表明，在 CRPS 患者中经常报告的疼痛灾难化可能与前额叶白质功能障碍有关。