Altered Regional Homogeneity in Patients With Corneal Ulcer: A Resting-State Functional MRI Study.

Area of Science:

• Neuroimaging
• Clinical Neuroscience
• Ophthalmology

Background:

• Corneal ulcer (CU) is an ocular condition that can lead to vision impairment.
• The neurological underpinnings of CU are not fully understood.
• Resting-state functional MRI (fMRI) can reveal brain activity patterns.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate regional homogeneity (ReHo) brain activity changes in patients with corneal ulcer (CU).
• To explore the relationship between these brain activity changes and clinical symptoms in CU patients.

Main Methods:

• Forty CU patients and 40 healthy controls (HCs) underwent resting-state fMRI scans.
• Regional homogeneity (ReHo) analysis was used to assess synchronous neural activity.
• Correlation analysis examined the link between ReHo values and clinical symptoms.

Main Results:

• CU patients showed significantly increased ReHo in areas like the cerebellum, temporal gyrus, and frontal gyrus compared to HCs.
• Decreased ReHo was observed in the anterior cingulate and precentral gyrus in CU patients.
• Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis indicated high diagnostic accuracy for most affected brain regions, but no clear correlation with clinical symptoms was found.

Conclusions:

• Corneal ulcer is associated with widespread brain functional adaptations, characterized by both increased and decreased regional homogeneity.
• These findings suggest potential underlying neuropathological mechanisms in CU.
• Further research is warranted to explore these mechanisms and their clinical implications.