A. Grey matter morphological changes assessed by voxel-based morphometry
(VBM) after aligning the brain in relation to OA pain (brain x axis
left-to-right flipping for left sided KOA and HOA; which renders the left
hemisphere to be contralateral to OA in all patients). The three groups were
contrasted together, using a 1-way between subjects’ ANCOVA, controlling
for age, gender, total ICV and brain flipping. Shown is the F-test statistic map
clustering determined using a TFCE uncorrected p-value binarized mask at value
of 0.001 and cluster size >66 voxels. Multiple brain regions showed
changes in regional volume B. Post-hoc results for GM volume differences for
significant clusters, adjusted for age, gender and TICV (Tukey HSD tests at
p<0.001); Bars represent the mean grey matter volume and error bars
represent the standard error. Left primary motor cortex (precentral gyrus;
PCG_L) and right temporal pole (TP_R) presented lower GM volume in both OA
groups. Bilateral anterior cingulate cortex (ACC_LR) showed lower GM volume only
in HOA, when contrasted with the other two groups. In the KOA group, GM volume
was greater for middle frontal gyrus cluster on the right (MFG_R) and lower for
right precuneus cortex (PC_R). Further information on thresholded clusters can
be found in Table 2. *p<0.001.