TY - JOUR T1 - Analysis of activation process of dyspnea sensation in CNS in patients with COPD measured by fMRI JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J VL - 38 IS - Suppl 55 SP - p4612 AU - Masachika Akiyama AU - Jun Suzuki AU - Yutaka Nakamura AU - Hitoshi Kobayashi AU - Kohei Yamauchi AU - Ikuko Uwano AU - Yutaka Matsumura AU - Makoto Sasaki Y1 - 2011/09/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/38/Suppl_55/p4612.abstract N2 - Introduction: Dyspnea is the cardinal symptom of COPD. Localization of dyspnea sensation in the brain has been studied by a small number of investigators. However little is known about transmission and activation of dyspnea sensation in CNS.Objectives: We analyzed pathway and localization of dyspnea sensation in the brain of normal subjects and COPD patients using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).Methods: Six normal subjects (M/F; 5/1, 53.7±5.9 yr: mean ± SEM) and 4 COPD patients (M/F; 4/0, 68.5±1.7 yr) were recruited. After informed consent, these subjects were requested to breathe through resistive loads ranging from 5 to 50 cm H2O/L/sec adjusted by the Borg CR10 Scale. The subjects received 1minute of repetitive resistive-loaded breathing three times with 1minute interval. During these process, brain activity was analyzed by 3 Tesla scanner (Signa Excite HD; GE Healthcare).Results: Activation of bilateral sensory cortices was recorded among 6 normal subjects and 4 COPD patients. In addition, VPM in bilateral thalami was also activated in all subjects when subjects breathed with the resistive load. There was no difference of the localization of activated portions during resistive-loaded breathing between in normal subjects and in COPD patients. Values of the resistive load to induce thalamic and cortical activation were significantly lower in COPD patients than those in normal subjects.Conclusion: Activation of thalamus and sensory cortex was dependent on the resistive load among normal subjects and COPD patients. The resistive loads on COPD patients to induce the thalamic activation were significantly lower than those on the normal subjects. ER -