FIBROMYALGIA IN WOMEN - ABNORMALITIES OF REGIONAL CEREBRAL BLOOD-FLOWIN THE THALAMUS AND THE CAUDATE-NUCLEUS ARE ASSOCIATED WITH LOW PAIN THRESHOLD LEVELS

Objective. To determine if regional cerebral blood how (rCBF) in the l eft and right hemithalami or the left and right heads of the caudate n ucleus is abnormal in women with fibromyalgia (FM), Methods, Resting-s tate rCBF in the hemithalami and left and right heads of the caudate n ucleus of 10 untreated women with FM and 7 normal control women was me asured by single-photon-emission computed tomography, Pain threshold l evels at tender and control points also were assessed in both the wome n with FM and the controls. Results, The rCBF in the left and right he mithalami and the left and right heads of the caudate nucleus was sign ificantly lower in women with FM than in normal controls (P = 0.01, P = 0.003, P = 0.01, and P = 0.02, respectively). Compared with controls , the women with FM also were characterized by significantly lower cor tical rCBF (P = 0.001) and lower pain threshold levels at both tender points (P = 0.0001) and control points (P = 0.0001). Conclusion. The f indings of low rCBF and generalized low pain thresholds support the hy pothesis that abnormal pain perception in women with FM may result fro m a functional abnormality within the central nervous system.