Altered Neurovascular Coupling in Unilateral Pulsatile Tinnitus.

Xiaoshuai Li,Chihang Dai,Ning Xu,Zhenghan Yang,Xuxu Meng,Rong Zeng,Han Lv,Zhenchang Wang,Heyu Ding,Xiaoyu Qiu,Pengfei Zhao,Shusheng Gong

doi:10.3389/fnins.2021.791436

Xiaoshuai Li, Chihang Dai + Show 10 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2021.791436

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Abstract

ObjectiveAltered cerebral blood flow (CBF) and regional homogeneity (ReHo) have been reported in pulsatile tinnitus (PT) patients. We aimed to explore regional neurovascular coupling changes in PT patients.Materials and MethodsTwenty-four right PT patients and 25 sex- and age-matched normal controls were included in this study. All subjects received arterial spin labeling imaging to measure CBF and functional MRI to compute ReHo. CBF/ReHo ratio was used to assess regional neurovascular coupling between the two groups. We also analyzed the correlation between CBF/ReHo ratio and clinical data from the PT patients.ResultsPT patients exhibited increased CBF/ReHo ratio in left middle temporal gyrus and right angular gyrus than normal controls, and no decreased CBF/ReHo ratio was found. CBF/ReHo ratio in the left middle temporal gyrus of PT patients was positively correlated with Tinnitus Handicap Inventory score (r = 0.433, p = 0.035).ConclusionThese findings indicated that patients with PT exhibit abnormal neurovascular coupling, which provides new information for understanding the neuropathological mechanisms underlying PT.

Highlights

Pulsatile tinnitus (PT) manifests as vascular somatosound synchronized with the pulse (Haraldsson et al, 2019)
The PT patients and normal controls (NCs) were well matched for sex (p = 0.667), age (p = 0.114), and handedness (p = 1.000)
The PT patients exhibited increased cerebral blood flow (CBF)/regional homogeneity (ReHo) ratio in the right angular gyrus and left middle temporal gyrus than the NCs, and no decreased CBF/ReHo ratio was found in the PT patients (p < 0.05, false discovery rate (FDR) corrected)

Summary

Introduction

Pulsatile tinnitus (PT) manifests as vascular somatosound synchronized with the pulse (Haraldsson et al, 2019). Sigmoid sinus wall anomalies are considered the most common and curable cause of PT (Dong et al, 2015; Mundada et al, 2015). Sounds and vibrations produced by abnormal hemodynamics in the venous sinus are perceived by the inner ear through the incomplete sinus wall (Li et al, 2021a). Sigmoid sinus wall reconstruction can effectively eliminate PT (Zhang et al, 2019). This disease state seriously affects patients’ daily lives, leading to irritability, anxiety, sleep disturbance, depression and even suicide (Li et al, 2020). More attention has been given to the neuronal activity of patients with PT (Lv et al, 2015a,b, 2016b, 2017). Spontaneous neuronal activity can be reflected by blood oxygen

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