Clinical effects and brain metabolic correlates in non-invasive cortical neuromodulation for visceral pain.

Background And Aims: Chronic visceral pain is frequent, extremely debilitating, and generally resistant to pharmacological treatment. It has been shown that chronic visceral inflammation, through altered afferent visceral sensory input, leads to plastic changes in the central nervous system that ultimately sustain pain. Therefore approaches aiming at modulation of brain activity are attractive candidates to control visceral pain.

Primary sclerosing cholangitis in childhood is associated with abnormalities in cystic fibrosis-mediated chloride channel function.

Objective: To determine whether primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) in childhood is associated with abnormalities in cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR).

Study Design: Subjects with PSC diagnosed in childhood (n = 20) were recruited from Children's Hospital. Subjects had testing with sweat chloride concentration, nasal transmembrane potential difference, and extensive genetic analysis of the CFTR gene.