Functional MRI findings showing cortical reorganization in a patient with type 2 complex regional pain syndrome: A...

The patients suffering with complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) reveal sensory, motor and autonomic abnormalities. The pathogenesis of CRPS is poorly understood. Some recent studies have reported that the functional magnetic resonance image (fMRI) findings support that cortical reorganization occurred in the patients with CRPS. We compared the cortical responses on fMRI in a 54-year-old right-handed male patient who suffered with type 2 CRPS on his left hand following an injury 4 years ago. He complained of severe pain and allodynia on the left hand that spread up to the left chest, and he showed abnormal involuntary movement and significant hypothermia on the left hand. The fMRI findings, when a mechanical stimulus was applied on both hands with a brush, showed significantly increased abnormal cortical responses on the primary and secondary somatosensory areas and the distinct parietal association area on the contra-lateral side of the brain to the stimuli on the affected painful hand relative to the stimuli on the unaffected hand. We report on the fMRI findings showing the cortical reorganization in a patient with type 2 CRPS.