title: Microcirculatory changes identified by photoacoustic microscopy in patients with complex regional pain syndrome type I after stellate ganglion blocks.
abstract: Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) is a chronic pain syndrome that causes intractable pain, disability, and poor quality of life for patients. The etiology and pathophysiology of CRPS are still poorly understood. Due to a lack of proper diagnostic tools, the prognosis of CRPS is primarily based on clinical observation. The objective of this work is to evaluate a new imaging modality, photoacoustic microscopy (PAM), for assisting diagnoses and monitoring the progress and treatment outcome of CRPS. Blood vasculature and oxygen saturation (sO₂) were imaged by PAM from eight adult patients with CRPS-1. Patients' hands and cuticles were imaged both before and after stellate ganglion block (SGB) for comparison. For all patients, both vascular structure and sO₂ could be assessed by PAM. In addition, more vessels and stronger signals were observed after SGB. The results show that PAM can help diagnose and monitor CRPS.
authors.affiliation: Washington University in St. Louis, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Optical Imaging Laboratory, One Brookings Drive, Campus Box 1097, St. Louis, Missouri 63130, United States.
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Washington University School of Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology/Pain Management, 660 South Euclid Avenue, Campus Box 8054, St. Louis, Missouri 63110, United States.
authors.forename: Xiaobin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yi
authors.affiliation: Washington University in St. Louis, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Optical Imaging Laboratory, One Brookings Drive, Campus Box 1097, St. Louis, Missouri 63130, United States.
authors.forename: Wenxin
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Xing
authors.affiliation: Washington University in St. Louis, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Optical Imaging Laboratory, One Brookings Drive, Campus Box 1097, St. Louis, Missouri 63130, United States.
authors.forename: Song
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Washington University in St. Louis, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Optical Imaging Laboratory, One Brookings Drive, Campus Box 1097, St. Louis, Missouri 63130, United States.
authors.forename: Konstantin I
authors.initials: KI
authors.lastname: Maslov
authors.affiliation: Washington University in St. Louis, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Optical Imaging Laboratory, One Brookings Drive, Campus Box 1097, St. Louis, Missouri 63130, United States.
authors.forename: Lihong V
authors.initials: LV
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001340:Autonomic Nerve Block; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008833:Microcirculation; D033401:Microscopy, Acoustic / Q000379:methods*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood*; D061088:Photoacoustic Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D012019:Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013233:Stellate Ganglion / Q000503:physiopathology*
chemical_list: D010100:Oxygen