[Structural changes in the gray matter in patients with trigeminal neuralgia: a voxel-based morphometric study].

Objective: To investigate the changes in whole brain gray matter volume in patients with trigeminal neuralgia using voxel-based morphometry (VBM).

Methods: Twenty-eight patients with trigeminal neuralgia and 28 healthy controls underwent magnetic resonance imaging with a Philips 1.5T MRI scanner. VBM was used to compare the structural differences in the whole brain gray matter between the two groups based on the DARTEL after data preprocessing with SPM8 software package.

Results: Compared with the healthy controls, the patients with trigeminal neuralgia presented with decreased gray matter volume in several brain regions including the bilateral middle temporal gyrus, bilateral superior/middle frontal gyrus, left pre-/post-central gyrus, right fusiform and anterior cingulate gyrus.

Conclusions: Patients with trigeminal neuralgia had abnormal gray matter volume in some brain regions associated with perception and processing of pain sensation. These changes may provide clues for further exploration of the neuropathogenic basis of trigeminal neuralgia.