Meta-analysis of resting-state fMRI in cervical spondylosis patients using AES-SDM

BackgroundResting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) reveals diverse neural activity patterns in cervical spondylosis (CS) patients. However, the reported results are inconsistent. Therefore, our objective was to conduct a meta-analysis to synthesize the findings from existing rs-fMRI studies and identify consistent patterns of neural brain activity alterations in patients with CS.Materials and methodsA systematic search was conducted across PubMed, Web of Knowledge, Embase, Google Scholar, and CNKI for rs-fMRI studies that compared CS patients with healthy controls (HCs), up to January 28, 2024. Significant cluster coordinates were extracted for comprehensive analysis.ResultsWe included 16 studies involving 554 CS patients and 488 HCs. CS patients demonstrated decreased brain function in the right superior temporal gyrus and left postcentral gyrus, and increased function in the left superior frontal gyrus. Jackknife sensitivity analysis validated the robustness of these findings, and Egger’s test confirmed the absence of significant publication bias (p > 0.05). Meta-regression showed no significant impact of age or disease duration differences on the results.ConclusionThis meta-analysis confirms consistent alterations in specific brain regions in CS patients, highlighting the potential of rs-fMRI to refine diagnostic and therapeutic strategies.Systematic review registrationhttps://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/, identifier CRD42024496263.