Altered functional connectivity of the nucleus tractus solitarii in patients with chronic cough after lung surgery: an rs-fMRI study.

Background: To explore the altered functional connectivity (FC) of the nucleus tractus solitarii (NTS) in patients with chronic cough after lung surgery using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI), and the association between abnormal FC and clinical scale scores.

Methods: A total of 22 patients with chronic cough after lung surgery and 22 healthy controls were included. Visual analog scale (VAS), Mandarin Chinese version of the Leicester Cough Questionnaire (LCQ-MC), and Hamilton anxiety rating scale (HAMA) scores were assessed, and rs-fMRI data were collected. The FC analysis was performed using the NTS as the seed point, and FC values with all voxels in the whole brain were calculated. A two-sample t-test was used to compare FC differences between the two groups. The FC values of brain regions with differences were extracted and correlated with clinical scale scores.

Results: In comparison to healthy controls, FC values in the NTS and anterior cingulate cortex(ACC) were reduced in patients with chronic cough after lung surgery (GRF correction, p-voxel < 0.005, p-cluster < 0.05) which were positively correlated with LCQ-MC scores (r = 0.534, p = 0.011), but with VAS (r = -0.500, p = 0.018), HAMA (r = -0.713, p < 0.001) scores were negatively correlated.

Conclusions: Reduced FC of the NTS with ACC may be associated with cough hypersensitivity and may contribute to anxiety in patients with chronic cough after lung surgery.