title: Functional brain abnormalities localized in 55 chronic tinnitus patients: fusion of SPECT coincidence imaging and MRI.
abstract: Tinnitus is often defined as the perception of sounds or noise in the absence of any external auditory stimuli. The pathophysiology of subjective idiopathic tinnitus remains unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the functional brain activities and possible involved cerebral areas in subjective idiopathic tinnitus patients by means of single photon emission computerized tomography (SPECT) coincidence imaging, which was fused with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). In this cross-sectional study, 56 patients (1 subject excluded) with subjective tinnitus and 8 healthy controls were enrolled. After intravenous injection of 5 mCi F18-FDG (fluorodeoxyglucose), all subjects underwent a brain SPECT coincidence scan, which was then superimposed on their MRIs. In the eight regions of interest (middle temporal, inferotemporal, medial temporal, lateral temporal, temporoparietal, frontal, frontoparietal, and parietal areas), the more pronounced values were represented in medial temporal, inferotemporal, and temporoparietal areas, which showed more important proportion of associative auditory cortices in functional attributions of tinnitus than primary auditory cortex. Brain coincidence SPECT scan, when fused on MRI is a valuable technique in the assessment of patients with tinnitus and could show the significant role of different regions of central nervous system in functional attributions of tinnitus.
authors.affiliation: Iran National Science Foundation, Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Hazrate Rasoul Hospital, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Farhadi
authors.forename: Saeid
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mahmoudian
authors.forename: Fariba
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Saddadi
authors.forename: Ali Reza
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Karimian
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mirzaee
authors.forename: Majid
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ahmadizadeh
authors.forename: Khosro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ghasemikian
authors.forename: Saeid
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gholami
authors.forename: Esmaeel
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ghoreyshi
authors.forename: Saeid
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Beyty
authors.forename: Ahmadreza
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shamshiri
authors.forename: Sedighe
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Madani
authors.forename: Valery
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Bakaev
authors.forename: Seddighe
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Moradkhani
authors.forename: Gholamreza
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Raeisali
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000002:abnormalities / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18 / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008875:Middle Aged; D014012:Tinnitus / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon / Q000379:methods*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18