BACKGROUND:  Fibromyalgia (FMS) is a chronic rheumatologic syndrome characterized by pain that is widely distributed throughout the muscles of the body. Patients often complain of constant pain, which is worsened by exertion, sleep disturbance, chronic fatigue, and depression. This syndrome affects up to 3.7 million Americans over the age of 18. The etiology of FMS is unknown and there is no known cure. Existing treatments control pain through anti-inflammatory medications, sleep-enhancing medications, and/or antidepressants. More recently, medications have been approved for the treatment of FMS; however, it is difficult to determine whether any treatment intervention is working. These different medications appear to help patients with the pain, but may take months to work, and side effects may limit their usefulness. Since it is likely that patients take multiple medications, there is a need for a method to determine the likelihood of long-term clinical response to fibromyalgia treatments.

INNOVATION:  UCLA investigators have identified a method of using human EEG output to determine early in the course of FMS treatment the likelihood of long-term clinical response. Investigators use quantitative electroencephalographic (QEEG) recordings as a neurophysiologic marker to a) determine the likelihood that individuals will experience clinically significant improvement in pain and related fibromyalgia symptoms and b) determine the expected magnitude of clinical response.

POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS 

• Management of chronic pain syndrome, fibromyalgia, by using measurements of regional brain activity (neurophysiologic marker) prior to and early in the course of treatment to predict subsequent clinical response to treatment
• Use of method in the discovery and development of new fibromyalgia therapeutics to greatly accelerate the drug development process and reduce costs

ADVANTAGES

• Highly sensitive and specific predictor of clinical response to fibromyalgia treatments

DEVELOPMENT-TO-DATE:  The invention has been tested using data gathered from patients who were participating in a clinical trial to study the effectiveness of the medication duloxetine in treating fibromyalgia. The QEEG predictor method was a highly sensitive and specific predictor of clinical outcome.

Related Papers (Selected)

• Goldenberg DL, Burckhardt C, Crofford L. Management of fribromyalgia syndrome. JAMA 2004 Nov 17; 292(19):2388-95 [more]

Reference: UCLA Case No. 2008-213