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The purpose of this study was to review the results of the treatment of trigeminal neuralgia by percutaneous trigeminal nerve compression in 50 patients during a period of 7.5 years and to review the factors associated with pain recurrence. Mean patient age was 61 years (range, 35-86). Among the patients, 52% had previous destructive peripheral procedures; 24% had first division pain; and 10% had multiple sclerosis. The mean follow-up was 3 years (range, 9 mo to 7.5 yr). Eighty-six percent of the patients were satisfied or very satisfied with their pain relief. Mild numbness persisted in 74%, and one patient thought it was severe. Minor masseter weakness resolved in all patients in a maximum of 1 year. Aseptic meningitis occurred in 3 patients. Minor dysesthesia was seen in 20%. Transient 6th nerve palsy was present in one patient. Anesthesia dolorosa or absence of the corneal reflex did not happen. The recurrence rate was 26% (13/50). The mean time until recurrence was 1.5 years (range, 14 d to 3.5 yr). Sixty-two percent (8/13) of patients with recurrence required a subsequent compression. When another compression was done, four of eight had recurrent pain once again. Three of these four patients had undergone two to eight previous destructive procedures. Overall, 8 of 13 patients with recurrence had undergone previous destructive procedures. Early recurrence (in < 1 week) or failure to relieve pain occurred in 8% (4/50) of patients. Half of those with early failure had a subsequent compression. After compression, 70% of patients with recurrence did have numbness.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Atypical facial pain is a loose term used to encompass a wide range of facial pain syndromes including those of dental and ear, nose and throat (ENT) aetiology. Often, it is associated with psychiatric conditions like depression and psychosomatic illnesses. This facial pain typically does not follow anatomical boundaries or its explainable by present day neurophysiological understanding. The pain is often constant with no remission and is aggravated by stress. Treatment is difficult and often directed to the psychiatric cause. Surgical treatment is contraindicated. Trigeminal neuralgia on the other hand, can be effectively treated. Pain in the trigeminal distribution is paroxysmal, precipitated by trigger factors and there is no pain in between attacks. The aetiology of trigeminal neuralgia is still unknown though current thinking is that there is a peripheral disturbance or damage with cerebral brainstem disinhibition of the trigeminal apparatus. This results in a paroxysmal discharge and reverberation of pain impulses when a trigger point is elicited. Therefore, anti-epileptic drugs like tegretol can be effective in controlling trigeminal neuralgia in the majority of patients, at least in the initial stages. For unknown reasons however, medical treatment either is not effective at all from the very beginning or fails after a few years. Surgery then becomes the only available therapeutic option. If the peripheral disturbance is due to an organic cause like a tumour, surgical approaches should be directed towards its removal. Often the pain will also resolve. If the trigeminal neuralgia is of the idiopathic variety, then the surgeon has a choice of either peripheral percutaneous retrogasserian ganglionectomies or central approaches like microvascular decompression and trigeminal tractotomy.

The resulting changes in the regional cerebral blood flow of 18 patients suffering from idiopathic trigeminal neuralgia and treated by selective thermocoagulation of the trigeminal ganglion were measured by xenon-133 emission tomography. One hour after thermal stimulation, there was an asymmetric increase (P < 0.05) in cerebral blood flow, with a 14.7% mean increase in the ipsilateral cerebral hemisphere (P < 0.001) and a 12.7% mean increase in the contralateral side (P < 0.01). The increase in regional cerebral blood flow was not uniform but was most marked in the ipsilateral middle cerebral artery territory (P < 0.001). There was a slight decrease in cerebellar blood flow, but the reduction in the ipsilateral cerebellar lobe was less than that in the contralateral lobe (P < 0.01). The topography of the most significant changes coincided with that of the innervation of the cerebral vessels by the trigeminal nerve. Several mechanisms are involved in the increase in regional cerebral blood flow, including overall nonspecific activation of the central nervous system and local mechanisms associated with the trigeminal-vascular system.

Fourteen patients suffering from idiopathic trigeminal neuralgia (refractory to medication) were treated by injection of glycerol into the trigeminal ganglion. The changes in cerebral blood flow (CBF) after glycerol injection were quantified by intravenous 133Xe emission tomography. There was a significant 11% (P less than 0.01) increase in ipsilateral CBF and an 8% (P less than 0.05) increase in contralateral CBF 1 h after glycerol injection. The interhemispheric difference was significant (P less than 0.05). The increase was significantly greater in the ipsilateral internal carotid territory, in the anterior cerebral artery and middle cerebral artery territories (superficial (P less than 0.05), deep territories (P less than 0.001]. We suggest that these changes are due to the release of substance P and/or calcitonin gene-related peptide, from terminals of the trigeminal-vascular system during glycerol injection.

The patient who presents with a severe and acute headache should be evaluated radiographically with CT. The key diagnosis to make in this situation is hemorrhage, either subarachnoid or intraparenchymal. Computed tomography is more sensitive to acute hemorrhage than is MRI. When the patient is stable, MRI frequently contributes information to narrow the diagnostic possibilities, because vascular malformations and certain parenchymal lesions have a characteristic appearance on MRI. Hydrocephalus may also present acutely and is easily seen on CT or MRI. In a patient may show WMF and atrophy. The patient with trigeminal neuropathy may demonstrate central or peripheral lesions. In temporomandibular joint dysfunction, conventional tomography and MRI are frequently used. Magnetic resonance imaging shows excellent detail of the disk and surrounding soft tissues, whereas tomography better demonstrates bony changes. When a history of trauma is present, MRI may show a subacute subdural hematoma. These collections are easily seen on MRI, even when isodense on CT. Evidence of old shear injury is also well seen on MRI. Finally, neoplastic, inflammatory, congenital, and idiopathic sources of headache may be demonstrated by either MRI or CT, depending on presentation. MRI will generally show superior characterization.

Twenty cases of facial neuralgia associated with tumors of the contralateral posterior fossa were collected from the world literature. Only four of these conform to the description of typical trigeminal neuralgia. We report on a fifth such case with a critical review of the literature. Subtotal excision of the tumor improves the pain and may convert a carbamazepine-resistant neuralgia into a responsive one. Total excision is often followed by a cure. Faced with such a case, the tumor should always be excised first, as this usually cures the neuralgia. Surgical treatment of the neuralgia in the presence of the tumor may be followed by disastrous results. An alternative hypothesis to the pathogenesis of the contralateral neuralgia is presented.

CT findings in ninety-nine patients with trigeminal neuralgia were reviewed. Brain tumors including three trigeminal neurinomas, three meningiomas, one epidermoid, one acoustic neurinoma, were found in eight cases as a cause of symptomatic trigeminal neuralgia. Among seventy-nine patients with idiopathic trigeminal neuralgia, four cases had vascular decompression surgery because of the tortuous, ectatic or anomalous vertebrobasilar artery. Among the other seventy-five non-surgical cases, seventeen cases showed the tortuous and/or ectatic vertebrobasilar artery on CT, and this group of patients showed slightly higher recurrence rate of trigeminal neuralgia after nerve block or medication compared with other non-surgical patients. CT is thought to be a useful screening imaging modality for evaluation of patients with trigeminal neuralgia, and angiography is required for precise evaluation of the compressing vessels when surgical treatment is contemplated.

On the basis of observation of 26 patients, we consider that the common cause in trigeminal neuralgia and hemifacial spasm is compression of the nerve-root entry zone at the brainstem by a blood vessel, usually an artery. By mobilising the vessel, and securing it away from the nerve, symptoms were relieved in 16 of 17 patients with trigeminal neuralgia and in seven of nine patients with hemifacial spasm for a follow-up period of up to four years. Trigeminal microvascular decompression had few complications, but three patients treated for facial hemispasm had postoperative deafness and one had a probable small brainstem infarct. The major advantage of this surgical approach is that is possible to relieve the symptoms without facial anaesthesia or paralysis.

Ectrodactyly (lobster claw deformity), ectodermal dysplasia and clefting of the lip or palate, the EEC syndrome, is a rare genetic disorder involving both mesodermal and ectodermal derivatives. Cerebral arterial dolichoectasia, a pathological dilatation and elongation of intracranial vessels, was found in a patient with the EEC syndrome. Her hypertensive cardiovascular disease, mild dementia and trigeminal neuralgia were all related to her dolichoectasia. Although the association of dolichoectasia has not been previously observed with the EEC syndrome, it may be more frequent than currently recognized. Cerebral arterial dolichoectasia and its attendant sequelae could account for some of the unexplained abnormalities described in other case reports of patients with the EEC syndrome.

Eleven patients suffering from trigeminal neuralgia were treated by percutaneous glycerol trigeminal rhizolysis after visualization of the trigeminal cistern with metrizamide. In 10 of 11 cases treatment was successful and the pain disappeared. The technique of the treatment is described. This form of treatment is recommended as a successful and simple method, especially in the elderly population suffering from trigeminal neuralgia.

Trigeminal neuralgia is a rare symptom in childhood. In the idiopathic variety, no objective neurological deficit is demonstrable, but in the symptomatic or secondary form, deficits of trigeminal function may be found. In the latter circumstance, underlying causative pathology must be looked for vigorously, as emphasized by the present case of symptomatic trigeminal neuralgia in a 5-year-old child, determined to be secondary to an infiltrating embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma.

The case of a 66-year-old woman who developed both trigeminal neuralgia and hemifacial spasm caused by a tortuous vertebrobasilar system is reported. Vertebral angiography showed a dilated and elongated basilar artery overlying the porus acusticus of the internal auditory canal. Double-contrast computed tomography scanning was very useful in evaluating this abnormality. Vascular decompression was performed by using a fenestration clip.

In a series of sixteen patients with idiopathic trigeminal neuralgia and twenty-one patients with atypical facial neuralgia, it was found that the painful phenomena associated with both disorders were, in nearly all instances, closely related to the presence of maxillary or mandibular bone cavities at previous tooth extraction sites. Standard oral surgical procedures for curettage of the cavities, together with administration of antibiotics, were employed in the successful treatment of both the trigeminal and atypical facial neuralgias, with complete pain remissions for periods varying from 2 months (for most recently treated cases) up to 9 years. The observations and results of this study suggest that dental and oral disorders may play a role in the genesis of trigeminal and atypical facial neuralgias.

Seventy-five patients with trigeminal neuralgia were treated by the injection of 0.2 to 0.4 ml of glycerol by the anterior percutaneous route into the trigeminal cistern, which was visualized by the aid of contrast medium (metrizamide). Eighty-six per cent of the patients were completely free from pain after the treatment, which produced only minimal disturbance of facial sensitivity. No complications have been observed. It is suggested that glycerol acts mainly on partly demyelinated nerve fibers, which are assumed to be involved in the trigger mechanism.

A classification of the various treatments available for controlling the pain of trigeminal neuralgia is given. The cause of this disorder remains unknown. Peripheral nerve block of a semipermanent nature by means of alcohol injection is sometimes indicated. Radiographic localization of the position of the needle tip prior to the injection of alcohol is described. It is suggested that this technique gives more reliable results, with fewer side effects, and reduces the volume of the alcohol injection required.

In a series of 25 consecutive patients suffering from essential trigeminal neuralgia, transoval glycerol injection following Håkanson was performed in order to alleviate the pain attacks. This treatment proved to be successful in 76% of the patients. No major side-effects were reported. Authors stress the importance of a precise cisternography of Meckel's cave to ascertain the correct position of the needle, before injecting the glycerol. They discuss their mode of conducting the examination in using a conventional radiologic set-up. Transoval glycerol injection is a valuable interventional radiologic procedure and has to be taken into account as an alternative treatment of essential trigeminal neuralgia, especially when current therapeutic measures have failed.

A common cause of trigeminal neuralgia (TN) is compression of the root of the fifth cranial nerve by a tortuous basilar artery or one of its branches. Microvascular decompression surgery has proved valuable in relieving the symptoms of these patients with nerve compression. We performed vertebral angiography on 22 patients with TN. The angiographic appearances were compared with the findings obtained from an anatomic study in which the positions of 20 trigeminal nerves in the skull were determined radiographically in 12 cadavers. By using this information, we were able to predict the presence of arterial-nerve compression in 20 of the 22 patients, and these positions were later confirmed at surgery. We describe the angiographic findings in patients with TN as well as the findings in a control group of 159 individuals with no history of TN. From these preliminary results, angiography appears to be valuable in the preoperative evaluation of patients with TN.

The positions of 20 trigeminal nerves in the skulls of 12 cadavers were evaluated radiographically. Small metal clips were attached to the nerves and radiographs were obtained in straight AP, Towne and lateral projections. It was found that the trigeminal nerve had a fairly constant position in the skull with respect to the internal auditory meatus in the AP and Towne projections and the petrous ridges in the lateral view. This information can be used during vertebral angiography to predict whether an arterial loop is sufficiently close to the trigeminal nerve root for arterial compression of the nerve, causing trigeminal neuralgia, to be a realistic possibility.

Forty-three patients who had signs and symptoms possibly related to the extracranial course of cranial nerves V, VII, IX, X-XII, and the cervical sympathetics were examined prospectively using high resolution CT to obtain images of thin sections during rapid drip infusion of contrast material. Anatomic areas in the scan protocols included the posterior fossa, cavernous and paranasal sinuses, skull base, temporal bone, nasopharynx, parotid gland, tongue base, and neck. Nine of the 23 patients with possible fifth nerve deficits had extracranial structural lesions that explained the symptoms; none of these nine, however, had typical trigeminal neuralgia. Of eight patients with peripheral seventh nerve abnormalities, two had positive findings on scans. No patient with classic Bell palsy had a positive finding on CT. Two of five patients presenting with the Horner syndrome had positive findings on CT. Of five patients presenting with referred ear pain, three had carcinoma of the upper aerodigestive tract. Our experience suggests that patients at high risk for structural lesions responsible for cranial nerve deficits can be selected by clinical criteria. Moreover, it is essential to extend the CT examination of such patients beyond the skull base when clinically indicated. Protocols for each clinical setting are presented.

Fourteen of 60 cases (23%) of trigeminal neuralgia underwent a repeat trigeminal cistern glycerol injection for recurrent pain. The mean time to recurrence was 14 months and the mean follow-up time following the last injection 10 months. Measurement of trigeminal cistern volume at the first and second procedure with metrizamide showed a significant decrease in the cistern volume from 0.38 ml to 0.29 ml. Clumping of nerve roots indicative of arachnoiditis was observed in 4 cases. In 2 further cases difficulty was encountered in emptying the cistern of metrizamide. After the repeat injection 2 patients developed painful dysethesia. Six patients showed either new or increased facial sensory deficits. These findings may indicate trigeminal cistern arachnoiditis. The possibility of deafferentation pain developing after trigeminal glycerol rhizolysis should prompt caution in the use of this technique in the younger patient.

Radiographic findings in 68 patients with trigeminal neuralgia and 24 patients with hemifacial spasm are reviewed. The relative value of various radiographic diagnostic procedures is discussed. Trigeminal neuralgia and hemifacial spasm are usually caused by vascular compression of the trigeminal root entry zone and facial nerve exit zone respectively. Computed tomography (CT) of the posterior fossa is the only radiographic screening procedure required. Angiography should be reserved for patients in whom CT findings suggest an aneurysm or tumor.

A 42-year-old male with advanced multiple sclerosis had severe left-sided trigeminal neuralgia in the maxillary and mandibular divisions that was extremely difficult to control with medications. Glycerol injection in the gasserian cystern provided only temporary results. Two electrodes were implanted epidurally at the C1-2 level, one in the midline and the other to the left of midline. Electrical stimulation produced complete relief from the painful paroxysms.

An epidermoid tumor of Meckel's cave was found in a middle-aged woman with trigeminal neuralgia. On CT the lesion had negative attenuation numbers of fat and extended from an expanded Meckel's cave through the porous trigeminus into the ambient and cerebellopontine angle cisterns. Surgical excision provided relief of the patient's trigeminal neuralgia.

Incorrect etiopathological evaluation of trigeminal neuralgia could result in therapeutic mistakes. Some of the clinical cases encountered are reviewed to point out diagnosis leading to valid therapeutic approaches.

A 24-year-old woman suffering from left trigeminal neuralgia presented with the familial occurrence of skeletal anomalies simulating Hajdu-Cheney syndrome. She was of a short stature and had low-set ears, protrusion of the bilateral temporal and occipital bones, platybasia, basilar impression, and dental anomaly. Vertebral angiography disclosed marked displacement to the left and dorsally of the basilar artery, which was confirmed during the operation to have compressed the left trigeminal nerve in the cerebellopontine angle narrowed by the unusually protruded bony structure. Cases of Hajdu-Cheney syndrome have occasionally been reported, a few combined with facial spasm, but Hajdu-Cheney syndrome with trigeminal neuralgia is very rare. The patient's family members were surveyed. The possible cause of the neuralgia with its relation to the osteodysplasia is briefly discussed.

Three cases of contralateral trigeminal neuralgia as a false localizing sign in intracranial tumors are reported. In each patient (meningioma, 2 cases; cholesteatoma, 1 case) the tumor was asymptomatic, so that intracranial tumor had not been suspected preoperatively. In all cases, tumors were large and firm. The tumor was supratentorial in two cases. In one case, a cortically mediated mechanism may have caused the neuralgia, whereas in the remaining two cases distortion and displacement of the brain stem and compression of the contralateral Meckel's cave would explain the trigeminal nerve signs.

Internal carotid angiography was performed in 38 patients with trigeminal neuralgia. The diameters of the middle cerebral and internal carotid arteries were measured and compared with the expected normal values obtained from a previously published study of a reference group of patients. The internal carotid artery was narrower than expected in the region close to the Gasserian ganglion and wider proximal and distal to this region. The differences were statistically significant. In 45 per cent of the patients, tortuosity and kinking of the internal carotid artery was found, indicating ectasia. Thus, in spite of signs of ectasia of the internal carotid artery, a significant reduction of the vessel size was seen close to the Gasserian ganglion, suggesting an etiologic relationship between the vascular changes and trigeminal neuralgia.

A case of trigeminal neuralgia caused by a contralateral calcified chronic subdural hematoma is reported. Preoperative magnetic resonance imaging revealed rotational displacement of the pons caused by huge chronic subdural hematoma. The neuralgia was completely alleviated after removal of the hematoma. The clinical and radiological features are described, and the possible mechanism of the neuralgia is briefly discussed.

The authors show the interest of C.T. examination of pterygo-maxillary region, principally in the pre-therapeutic staging of the maxillo-facial neoplasy. The anatomical division of the fossa in four regions (pterygoïd muscle area, lateropharyngeal area, pterygo-palatine fossa and retro-maxillary-malar area) can be easily applied to C.T. study. Cuts must be taken axially, in the orbito-meatal plane, and coronally always if possible, before and after administration of contrast medium. Six, out of thirty six cases studied were demonstrative. It appears that C.T. examination must be performed immediately after conventional radiology in the staging of maxillo-facial neoplasy. It shows with considerable accuracy not only the bony involvement, but also the extension in the soft tissues (interest of the densitometric study of fat) and aeric structures. It sometimes brings the solution of special clinical problems (Trismus, neuralgia of the facial nerve).

Twenty-four patients with idiopathic trigeminal neuralgia were treated by neurovascular decompression surgery. All patients underwent preoperative vertebral angiography. After surgery, the vertebral angiograms of these patients were retrospectively reviewed. In 23 of the 24 patients, the superior cerebellar artery (SCA) and/or the anterior inferior cerebellar artery (AICA) compressed the trigeminal nerve. In the remaining case, no such compression by vessels was observed. On review of the angiograms, most of the compressing arteries, and the sites and numbers of compression points could be identified. Most of the caudal points of the SCAs which did not compress the trigeminal nerve were located higher than the compression points of the SCAs. It was therefore concluded that vertebral angiography is useful in the preoperative evaluation of compressing arteries. Since superimposition of arteries could be avoided, the straight AP projection was the most valuable of the three projections employed.

A prospective study of percutaneous retrogasserian glycerol rhizotomy (PRGR) with and without metrizamide trigeminal cisternography is reported in the treatment of the trigeminal neuralgia. A series of 100 patients with typical trigeminal neuralgia were allocated randomly to two treatment groups: Group I patients received PRGR with trigeminal cisternography (50 cases) and Group II patients received PRGR without trigeminal cisternography (50 cases). The results indicate that PRGR without trigeminal cisternography is a valid alternative to the original technique. Factors that assured the accurate performance of the modified technique proposed in this study were: spontaneous cerebrospinal fluid drainage; radiologically confirmed placement of the thin spinal needle at the clival edge into the trigeminal impression of the petrous apex and in the center of the foramen ovale; a positive response to the glycerol test; clinical control of the final glycerol injection; and an alert and cooperating patient throughout the entire procedure.