Five patients with central post-stroke pain (CPSP) and seven patients with Cluster-headache were examined with positron-emission-tomography and the ligand [11C]Diprenorphine. Each group was compared with healthy controls. In patients with CPSP, there was a decreased ligand-binding in classic structures of the pain-processing network, independent of the intracerebral lesion site. The lesion itself and the suspected transneuronal degeneration can only explain a part of the reduced ligand-binding. The analysis of the group with Cluster-headache showed a reduction in ligand-binding exclusively in the Epiphysis, supporting the idea of the circadian pacemaker-system as being part of the pathogenesis of this disease. In spite of the intense pain, there are no hints for neuroplasticity in the opiodergic system of the known pain-processing structures.
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Five patients with central post-stroke pain (CPSP) and seven patients with Cluster-headache were examined with positron-emission-tomography and the ligand [11C]Diprenorphine. Each group was compared with healthy controls. In patients with CPSP, there was a decreased ligand-binding in classic structures of the pain-processing network, independent of the intracerebral lesion site. The lesion itself and the suspected transneuronal degeneration can only explain a part of the reduced ligand-binding....
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