Predictive value of brain perfusion SPECT for ketamine response in hyperalgesic fibromyalgia.
OBJECTIVE
Ketamine has been used successfully in various proportions of fibromyalgia (FM) patients. However, the response to this specific treatment remains largely unpredictable. We evaluated brain SPECT perfusion before treatment with ketamine, using voxel-based analysis. The objective was to determine the predictive value of brain SPECT for ketamine response.


METHODS
Seventeen women with FM (48 +/- 11 years; ACR criteria) were enrolled in the study. Brain SPECT was performed before any change was made in therapy in the pain care unit. We considered that a patient was a good responder to ketamine if the VAS score for pain decreased by at least 50% after treatment. A voxel-by-voxel group analysis was performed using SPM2, in comparison to a group of ten healthy women matched for age.


RESULTS
The VAS score for pain was 81.8 +/- 4.2 before ketamine and 31.8 +/- 27.1 after ketamine. Eleven patients were considered "good responders" to ketamine. Responder and non-responder subgroups were similar in terms of pain intensity before ketamine. In comparison to responding patients and healthy subjects, non-responding patients exhibited a significant reduction in bilateral perfusion of the medial frontal gyrus. This cluster of hypoperfusion was highly predictive of non-response to ketamine (positive predictive value 100%, negative predictive value 91%).


CONCLUSIONS
Brain perfusion SPECT may predict response to ketamine in hyperalgesic FM patients.
Guedj
Eric
E
Service Central de Biophysique et de Médecine Nucléaire, Assistance Publique des Hôpitaux de Marseille, Centre Hospitalo-Universitaire de la Timone, 264 rue Saint Pierre, 13385 Marseille Cedex 5, France. eric.guedj@ap-hm.fr
Cammilleri
Serge
S
Colavolpe
Cecile
C
Taieb
David
D
de Laforte
Catherine
C
Niboyet
Jean
J
Mundler
Olivier
O
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005356:Fibromyalgia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D007649:Ketamine / Q000378:metabolism*; D008875:Middle Aged; D015609:Organotechnetium Compounds / Q000737:chemistry; D010477:Perfusion; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon / Q000379:methods*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D015609:Organotechnetium Compounds; D007649:Ketamine