NCT05679297

Structural and Functional Grey and White Matter Changes in Patients With Pain Disorders

• Status: Completed
• Phase: —
• Study type: Observational
• Enrollment: 82 (actual)
• Sponsor: University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

The goal of this observational study is to examine the association between exact lesion location and presence of thalamic CPSP (Central post-stroke pain) in a larger number of patients after thalamic stroke.

Detailed description

The researchers will explore how the brain areas and mechanisms of brain plasticity are involved in the generation of thalamic CPSP, compared to other pain disorders, using structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at 3 Tesla. The functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) will be also used to assess the cerebral processing of heat/cold stimuli in patients with thalamic pain compared to thalamic stroke patients without pain, to patients with migraine (other central pain disorder) and to normal controls. In addition the researchers want to assess the somatosensory profile of thalamic pain patients and compare it with thalamic stroke patients without pain, patients with migraine (pain control) and normal controls.

Conditions

• Central Post-stroke Pain

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
DIAGNOSTIC_TEST	Quantitative sensory testing (QST)	The QST is a standardized, internationally accepted test battery consisting of several well-established, non-invasive tests, measuring parameters, which reflect nearly all aspects of somatosensation. 1. Thermal detection threshold for the perception of cold, warm and paradoxical heat sensations 2. Thermal pain threshold 3. Mechanical detection thresholds for touch 4. Mechanical pain threshold for pinprick stimuli 5. Stimulus-response functions 6. Wind- up ratio: The wind- up ratio represents the quotient of the pain intensity evoked by 10 pin-prick stimuli and the pain intensity evoked by one single pin-prick stimulus 7. Vibration detection threshold 8. Pressure pain threshold
DIAGNOSTIC_TEST	Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)	Functional and structural MRI data will be collected using a 3 Tesla Siemens Scanner with a multi-channel head coil. For the resting state functional MRI the subjects will merely lie in the scanner for about 10 minutes. A "painful heat/cold stimulation" will be performed to study the differences in pain processing between the three groups
OTHER	Clinical interview/exam	The pain characteristics will be assessed through a standardized questionnaire. The german pain questionnaire is a validated questionnaire that assesses various dimensions of pain. Patients will also get a complete neurological examination by an experienced clinician.
OTHER	Follow-up interview	Structured telephone interview with 3 Questionnaires 1. The german pain questionnaire 2. Questionnaire regarding clinical development since the last visit designed by the investigators 3. German translation of 12-item-allodynia symptom checklist (ASC-12)

Timeline

• Start date: 2015-05-04
• Primary completion: 2024-12-27
• Completion: 2024-12-27
• First posted: 2023-01-10
• Last updated: 2025-01-17

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Switzerland