Trigeminal neuralgia (TN), also known as tic douloureux is a chronic neuropathic pain disorder characterized by sporadic episodes of extreme, sudden burning or shock-like face pain that last from a few seconds to 2 minutes. Trigeminal neuralgia has a reported incidence of 5.9/100,000 women and 3.4/100,000 men in USA. The exact pathophysiology is still unclear, but demyelization leading to abnor...

Somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) were recorded following trigeminal nerve stimulation in 25 normal subjects. Mucosal stimulation of the lip resulted in a reduced stimulus artefact. The three initial peaks, N13, P19, and N30, measured respectively 12.8 +/- 0.9 S-3, 19.3 +/- 1.4 S-3, and 28.6 +/- 1.7 S-3. Blink reflex studies were also performed in most of these subjects. In 41.4% of 29 pat...

Latent herpes simplex virus (HSV) has been demonstrated in the trigeminal ganglia of experimentally infected rabbits between episodes of spontaneous ocular recurrence. In three experiments reported here, the normal pattern of recurrence was modified by manipulation of the trigeminal nerve and ganglion. Temporary retrobulbar disruption of trigeminal nerve function in chronically infected animals...

This article discusses neuropathic pain of traumatic origin affecting the trigeminal nerve. This syndrome has been termed painful traumatic trigeminal neuropathy by the International Headache Society and replaces atypical odontalgia, deafferentation pain, traumatic neuropathy, and phantom toothache. The discussion emphasizes the diagnosis and the early and late management of injuries to the tri...

We present an unusual case of a metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC) mimicking trigeminal schwannoma. The patient, with no prior history of RCC, presented with clinical symptoms and imaging consistent with trigeminal neuralgia secondary to trigeminal schwannoma. Magnetic resonance imaging of the brain showed a large bilobed cystic/solid mass primarily in the cerebellopontine angle cistern, wit...

PURPOSE To report a rare case of painful trigeminal neuropathy after lateral medullary infarct and probe its underlying pathogenesis on the basis of neuroimaging and electrophysiological study. CASE REPORT A 45-year-old man presented acute onset of unsteady gait followed by paroxysmal and electric shock-like headache in the distribution of ophthalmic branch of left trigeminal nerve in 2 days....

BACKGROUND Nerve injury may induce neuropathic pain. In studying the mechanisms of orofacial neuropathic pain, attention has been paid to the plastic changes that occur in the trigeminal ganglia (TGs) and nucleus in response to an injury of the trigeminal nerve branches. Previous studies have explored the impact of sciatic nerve injury on dorsal root ganglia (DRGs) and it has shown dramatic cha...

Cerebellopontine angle tumors might occasionally provoke trigeminal neuralgia but are usually large enough to be diagnosed radiographically. We present a case of trigeminal neuralgia caused by a very small meningioma covering the suprameatal tubercle that displayed hyperostosis at the entrance of Meckel's cave and was not obvious on routine magnetic resonance (MR) images. A 72-year-old woman wi...

Trigeminal-mediated headshaking is an idiopathic neuropathic facial pain syndrome in horses. There are clinical similarities to trigeminal neuralgia, a neuropathic facial pain syndrome in man, which is usually caused by demyelination of trigeminal sensory fibers within either the nerve root or, less commonly, the brainstem. Our hypothesis was that the neuropathological substrate of headshaking ...