Cerebral Haemodynamic Changes Induced by Spinal Cord Stimulation in Man

Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) has been shown to influence cerebral perfusion in both experimental models and humans. With the aim of further verifying such an effect, twelve patients had an epidural (cervical or dorsal) lead inserted percutaneously and underwent regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) examinations (133-Xenon inhalation method) before and during SCS. Mean blood velocity (MBV) in the middle cerebral artery was also measured in seven cases by means of transcranial Doppler. In the patients with a cervical lead, a symmetrical increase in rCBF was found, mainly in the anterior regions (from +8% to +21%). MBV increased in four cervical lead implants (from +16% to +20%) and in one case with a dorsal lead (+15%). These results suggest that cerebral perfusion may increase in patients undergoing SCS through a cervical lead. Although the mechanism involved in the increase in rCBF remains to be clarified, frontal lobe functional activation by the ascending reticular pathways through the thalamo-cortical projections might be hypothesised.