Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and functional connectivity density mapping in patients with corneal ulcer.

PURPOSE: To investigate alternations in spontaneous brain activities reflected by functional connectivity density (FCD) in patients with corneal ulcer (CU) using resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC).

METHODS

We recruited 24 patients with CU (12 males, 12 females), and 24 healthy controls (HCs; 12 males, 12 females) matched for age, gender and education status. Functional magnetic resonance imaging examinations were performed on all subjects in a resting state and the following parameters determined: rsFC, long-range FCD (longFCD) and short-range FCD (IFCD). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were then used to differentiate patients with CU from HCs.

RESULTS

Compared with HCs, CU patients showed significantly reduced rsFC values in the right cerebellum posterior lobe gyrus, right middle frontal gyrus/inferior frontal gyrus/superior frontal gyrus and left inferior parietal lobule/precuneus. Significantly reduced longFCD values were found in the right hippocampus/inferior temporal gyrus and the left inferior temporal gyrus. Moreover, compared with HCs, IFCD values were significantly reduced in the left inferior temporal gyrus/middle temporal gyrus, left limbic lobe/medial frontal gyrus, and left precuneus/limbic lobe, but were significantly increased in the right insula/superior temporal gyrus, left superior temporal gyrus/inferior frontal gyrus/insula, right superior temporal gyrus/postcentral gyrus, and left precentral gyrus.

CONCLUSIONS

Patients with CU exhibited alterations in spontaneous brain activities in several brain areas. These novel findings may help to reveal the neuropathological mechanisms underlying CU.

UNLABELLED: This study provides a direction for further exploration of underlying neural mechanisms of CU and facilitate the clinical diagnosis and treatment of CU.