Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Case Reports
. 2013 May 15;8(14):1337-42.
doi: 10.3969/j.issn.1673-5374.2013.14.010.

Differences in individual susceptibility affect the development of trigeminal neuralgia

Yusuf Kurtuluş Duransoy  1 , Mesut Mete  1 , Emrah Akçay  2 , Mehmet Selçuki  1
Affiliations
Case Reports

Differences in individual susceptibility affect the development of trigeminal neuralgia

Yusuf Kurtuluş Duransoy et al. Neural Regen Res. .

Abstract

Trigeminal neuralgia is a syndrome due to dysfunctional hyperactivity of the trigeminal nerve, and is characterized by a sudden, usually unilateral, recurrent lancinating pain arising from one or more divisions of the nerve. The most accepted pathogenetic mechanism for trigeminal neuralgia is compression of the nerve at its dorsal root entry zone or in its distal course. In this paper, we report four cases with trigeminal neuralgia due to an unknown mechanism after an intracranial intervention. The onset of trigeminal neuralgia after surgical interventions that are unrelated to the trigeminal nerve suggests that in patients with greater individual susceptibility, nerve contact with the vascular structure due to postoperative pressure and changes in cerebrospinal fluid flow may cause the onset of pain.

Keywords: asymptomatic vascular compression of the cranial nerves; cranial nerves; dorsal root entry zone; dorsal root exit zone; etiology; hyperactive dysfunction syndrome; individual susceptibility; neural regeneration; neuroregeneration; peripheral nerve injury; risk factors; trigeminal neuralgia.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of interest: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Angiography of a dural arteriovenous fistula (AVF) before (A) and 10 years after intervention for right occipital AVF (B). White arrow shows the enlargement of the superior cerebellar artery which feeds the residual occipital dural AVF 10 years after surgery. While black arrow in figure A shows the AVF, and in figure B it shows the residual occipital dural AVF.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Preoperative (A) and postoperative (B) sagittal section of cervical MRI 1 month after suboccipital craniectomy. White arrow shows suboccipital decompression.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Preoperative cranial MRI (A) and postoperative cranial computed tomography image 6 days after left occipital craniotomy (B). Black arrow shows cerebellar tumor. White arrow shows total resection of tumor. R: Right.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Preoperative cervical MRI (A) and cervical X-ray images after anterior transarticular screw fixation at C1–2 (B). White arrow shows pressure from the odontoid tip on the brainstem. Black arrow shows the C1–2 transarticular screw fixation.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Yang KH, Na JH, Kong DS, et al. Combined hyperactive dysfunction syndrome of the cranial nerves. J Korean Neurosurg Soc. 2009;46(4):351–354. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Papanastassiou AM, Schwartz RB, Friedlander RM. Chiari I malformation as a cause of trigeminal neuralgia: case report. Neurosurgery. 2008;63(3):E614–615. - PubMed
    1. Perrini P, Rasile F, Leggate J. Trigeminal neuralgia as initial symptom of paramedian tentorial meningioma. Neurol Sci. 2009;30(1):81–83. - PubMed
    1. Love S, Coakham HB. Trigeminal neuralgia: pathology and pathogenesis. Brain. 2001;124(Pt 12):2347–2360. - PubMed
    1. Delzell JE, Jr, Grelle AR. Trigeminal neuralgia. New treatment options for a well-known cause of facial pain. Arch Fam Med. 1999;8(3):264–268. - PubMed

Publication types