Posterior Cervical‐Thoracic Thermograms: Pattern Persistence and Correlation with Chronic Headache Syndromes

Abstract

These experiments investigate thermographic patterns in the posterior cervical/thoracic (PCT) region of 530 headache patients and 30 headache/injury-free volunteers. The study examines: The longitudinal persistence of Proximal and Distal patterns; three distinct midline patterns (PCT I, II, and III); and their correlation with diagnosis, injury, and pain. Twenty-four (80%) of 30 randomly selected subjects displayed unchanged Proximal patterns at the mean observation period of 5.5 months. PCT pattern fluctuations occurred in 13/30 (43.3%) subjects. The distinctiveness of each subject's Proximal and Distal patterns was verified by blind calling of thermogram pairs. Pattern persistence was validated with alcohol spray-Patterns were identical regardless of using a 0.5°C or 1.0°C temperature setting. Temperature settings of 1.0°C yielded more distinct Proximal and Distal patterns.Chi square analysis determined that there was no significant difference in the number of PCT III patterns in the experimental or control groups.In conclusion, it appears that Proximal and Distal Patterns may be consistent over time and individually unique, but that PCT patterns fluctuate and, therefore, do not correlate with chronic headaches. (Headache 27:10-15, 1987)