Postherpetic Neuralgia and Morphological Alterations in the Human Dorsal Root Ganglia: A Study Using 3T MR Neurography

Motivation: Despite the crucial role of imaging in localizing lesions, excluding causes, and guiding surgery, there remains a paucity of reports pertaining to the radiological manifestations in patients with herpetic neuralgia. Goal(s): To investigate the correlation between the volume and T2 signal intensity (SI) of the ganglia in 3T MRN with clinical and serological parameters in herpetic neuralgia patients. Approach: With 18 patients examined by MRN. Volume, T2 signal measurements of the T1-T12 ganglia were performed manually for each patient. Results: The changes in ganglion volume observed on MRN may reflect disease progression. Among all serological indicators, ESR was correlated with the volume ratio. Impact: This study is the first to quantify ganglia in herpetic neuralgia patients, and the first to investigate the correlation between ganglia volume and serological data. In herpetic neuralgia patients, these MRN findings will contribute to the diagnosis and management.