Positron emission tomography in patients with fibromyalgia syndrome and healthy controls

Objective. Abnormal brain findings have previously been described in fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) by single-photon-emission computed tomography. Our goal was to investigate change in regional cerebral glucose metabolism in people with FMS by positron emission tomography (PET) using F-18-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG). Methods. Twelve patients with FMS and no comorbid psychiatric diagnosis and 7 healthy pain-free controls were studied with FDG-PET in a blinded manner. Those with a psychiatric diagnosis were excluded. Brain scans were obtained using a PET scanner. Semiquantitative analysis of regional F-18-FDG uptake was performed in both cortical and subcortical brain structures. Results. In the resting state, there were no significant differences in F-18-FDG uptake between patients and controls for all brain structures measured. Conclusion. FDG-PET scan findings in FMS were not significantly different from healthy controls. Normal results in our study may be explained by discordance between regional cerebral blood flow and regional cerebral glucose metabolism.