Functional to structural plasticity in unilateral sudden sensorineural hearing loss: neuroimaging evidence
Yu-Ting Li,
Ke Bai,
Gan-Ze Li,
Bo Hu,
Jia-Wei Chen,
Yu-Xuan Shang,
Ying Yu,
Zhu-Hong Chen,
Chi Zhang,
Lin-Feng Yan,
Guang-Bin Cui,
Lian-Jun Lu,
Wen Wang
Affiliations
Yu-Ting Li
Department of Radiology, Functional and Molecular Imaging Key Lab of Shaanxi Province, Tangdu Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, 569 Xinsi Road, Xi'an 710038, Shaanxi, China
Ke Bai
Department of Radiology, Functional and Molecular Imaging Key Lab of Shaanxi Province, Tangdu Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, 569 Xinsi Road, Xi'an 710038, Shaanxi, China
Gan-Ze Li
Department of Radiology, Functional and Molecular Imaging Key Lab of Shaanxi Province, Tangdu Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, 569 Xinsi Road, Xi'an 710038, Shaanxi, China
Bo Hu
Department of Radiology, Functional and Molecular Imaging Key Lab of Shaanxi Province, Tangdu Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, 569 Xinsi Road, Xi'an 710038, Shaanxi, China
Jia-Wei Chen
Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Tangdu Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an 710038, China
Yu-Xuan Shang
Department of Radiology, Functional and Molecular Imaging Key Lab of Shaanxi Province, Tangdu Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, 569 Xinsi Road, Xi'an 710038, Shaanxi, China
Ying Yu
Department of Radiology, Functional and Molecular Imaging Key Lab of Shaanxi Province, Tangdu Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, 569 Xinsi Road, Xi'an 710038, Shaanxi, China
Zhu-Hong Chen
Department of Radiology, Functional and Molecular Imaging Key Lab of Shaanxi Province, Tangdu Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, 569 Xinsi Road, Xi'an 710038, Shaanxi, China
Chi Zhang
Department of Radiology, Functional and Molecular Imaging Key Lab of Shaanxi Province, Tangdu Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, 569 Xinsi Road, Xi'an 710038, Shaanxi, China
Lin-Feng Yan
Department of Radiology, Functional and Molecular Imaging Key Lab of Shaanxi Province, Tangdu Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, 569 Xinsi Road, Xi'an 710038, Shaanxi, China
Guang-Bin Cui
Department of Radiology, Functional and Molecular Imaging Key Lab of Shaanxi Province, Tangdu Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, 569 Xinsi Road, Xi'an 710038, Shaanxi, China; Corresponding author: Wen Wang, MD, PhD, Department of Radiology, Functional and Molecular Imaging Key Lab of Shaanxi Province, Tangdu Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an; Tel: 86-29-84778856
Lian-Jun Lu
Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Tangdu Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an 710038, China; Corresponding author: Wen Wang, MD, PhD, Department of Radiology, Functional and Molecular Imaging Key Lab of Shaanxi Province, Tangdu Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an; Tel: 86-29-84778856
Wen Wang
Department of Radiology, Functional and Molecular Imaging Key Lab of Shaanxi Province, Tangdu Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, 569 Xinsi Road, Xi'an 710038, Shaanxi, China; Corresponding author: Wen Wang, MD, PhD, Department of Radiology, Functional and Molecular Imaging Key Lab of Shaanxi Province, Tangdu Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an; Tel: 86-29-84778856
A cortical plasticity after long-duration single side deafness (SSD) is advocated with neuroimaging evidence while little is known about the short-duration SSDs. In this case-cohort study, we recruited unilateral sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) patients and age-, gender-matched health controls (HC), followed by comprehensive neuroimaging analyses. The primary outcome measures were temporal alterations of varied dynamic functional network connectivity (dFNC) states, neurovascular coupling (NVC) and brain region volume at different stages of SSNHL. The secondary outcome measures were pure-tone audiograms of SSNHL patients before and after treatment. A total of 38 SSNHL patients (21 [55%] male; mean [standard deviation] age, 45.05 [15.83] years) and 44 HC (28 [64%] male; mean [standard deviation] age, 43.55 [12.80] years) were enrolled. SSNHL patients were categorized into subgroups based on the time from disease onset to the initial magnetic resonance imaging scan: early- (n = 16; 1-6 days), intermediate- (n = 9; 7-13 days), and late- stage (n = 13; 14-30 days) groups. We first identified slow state transitions between varied dFNC states at early-stage SSNHL, then revealed the decreased NVC restricted to the auditory cortex at the intermediate- and late-stage SSNHL. Finally, a significantly decreased volume of the left medial superior frontal gyrus (SFGmed) was observed only in the late-stage SSNHL cohort. Furthermore, the volume of the left SFGmed is robustly correlated with both disease duration and patient prognosis. Our study offered neuroimaging evidence for the evolvement from functional to structural brain alterations of SSNHL patients with disease duration less than 1 month, which may explain, from a neuroimaging perspective, why early-stage SSNHL patients have better therapeutic responses and hearing recovery.
