title: Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy of the thalamus in patients with osteoarthritis of the hip.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to assess N-acetyl aspartate changes in the thalamus in patients with osteoarthritis of the hip using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy.
  
  
  METHODS
  Nine patients with osteoarthritis of the hip (symptomatic group, nine women; mean age 61.4 years (48 to 78)) and nine healthy volunteers (control group, six men, three women; mean age 30.0 years (26 to 38)) underwent proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy to assess the changes of N-acetyl aspartate in the thalamus.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The ratio of N-acetyl aspartate to creatine plus phosphocreatine in the thalamus contralateral to the symptomatic hip in patients with osteoarthritis of the hip was significantly lower than the ratio of N-acetyl aspartate to creatine plus phosphocreatine in the thalamus in the control group (1.611 (range; 1.194-1.882) vs 1.355 (range; 1.043-1.502), p < 0.001). And, a strong negative correlation was detected between the ratio of N-acetyl aspartate to creatine plus phosphocreatine in the thalamus contralateral to the symptomatic hip in patients with osteoarthritis of the hip and pain duration (r = -0.83, p = 0.018).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We evaluated the ratio of N-acetyl aspartate to creatine plus phosphocreatine in the thalamus of patients with osteoarthritis of the hip by using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy. We concluded that the ratio of N-acetyl aspartate to creatine plus phosphocreatine in the thalamus contralateral to the symptomatic hip in patients with osteoarthritis of the hip were significantly lower than those in the thalamus of the control group, and that pain duration was strongly related to the decrease of the ratio of N-acetyl aspartate to creatine plus phosphocreatine.
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, 1-8-1 Inohana, Chuo-ku, Chiba, 260-8670, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shigemura
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kishida
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Eguchi
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ohtori
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kojima
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Masuda
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Takahashi
keywords: Chronic pain; Hip joint; N-acetyl aspartate (NAA); Osteoarthritis (OA); Proton Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (1H-MRS); Thalamus