AUTHOR=Li Xiaoshuai , Xu Ning , Dai Chihang , Meng Xuxu , Qiu Xiaoyu , Ding Heyu , Zeng Rong , Lv Han , Zhao Pengfei , Yang Zhenghan , Gong Shusheng , Wang Zhenchang 

TITLE=Altered Neurovascular Coupling in Unilateral Pulsatile Tinnitus

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Neuroscience

VOLUME=15

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnins.2021.791436

DOI=10.3389/fnins.2021.791436

ISSN=1662-453X

ABSTRACT=<sec><title>Objective</title><p>Altered cerebral blood flow (CBF) and regional homogeneity (ReHo) have been reported in pulsatile tinnitus (PT) patients. We aimed to explore regional neurovascular coupling changes in PT patients.</p></sec><sec><title>Materials and Methods</title><p>Twenty-four right PT patients and 25 sex- and age-matched normal controls were included in this study. All subjects received arterial spin labeling imaging to measure CBF and functional MRI to compute ReHo. CBF/ReHo ratio was used to assess regional neurovascular coupling between the two groups. We also analyzed the correlation between CBF/ReHo ratio and clinical data from the PT patients.</p></sec><sec><title>Results</title><p>PT patients exhibited increased CBF/ReHo ratio in left middle temporal gyrus and right angular gyrus than normal controls, and no decreased CBF/ReHo ratio was found. CBF/ReHo ratio in the left middle temporal gyrus of PT patients was positively correlated with Tinnitus Handicap Inventory score (<italic>r</italic> = 0.433, <italic>p</italic> = 0.035).</p></sec><sec><title>Conclusion</title><p>These findings indicated that patients with PT exhibit abnormal neurovascular coupling, which provides new information for understanding the neuropathological mechanisms underlying PT.</p></sec>