The Role of Magnetic Resonance Imaging in the evaluation of Trigeminal Neuralgia: a pilot study

Introduction Trigeminal neuralgia is a debilitating painful condition affecting one or more branches of trigeminal nerve characterized by sharp shooting, electric shock like pain lasting for a short time. In most cases, no specific cause can be identified but certain do tend to occur due to lesions or damage to the trigeminal nerve due to vascular compression, tumors, etc. which can be detected by magnetic resonance imaging. Hence, this pilot study was conducted to identify any underlying causes for trigeminal neuralgia using magnetic resonance imaging. Methods  A prospective cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted on 10 patients who were presented to department with clinical symptoms of trigeminal neuralgia. Magnetic resonance imaging of the brain with trigeminal protocol was conducted. The evaluation of the entire course of the trigeminal nerve was then performed by an experienced radiologist. Results Out of the 10 patients, 6 were females and 4 males. Four patients did not show presence of any pathology i.e. were idiopathic. Five cases reported with neurovascular compression and one showed the presence of a tumor at the cerebellopontine angle compressing the nerve. Conclusion In this study, with use of magnetic resonance imaging, a 60% occurrence of an underlying pathology was demonstrated which could be treated to relieve the neuralgia. Hence, taking into account the high prevalence of etiological factors which could contribute towards trigeminal neuralgia detected on MRI, large scale studies can be considered for the same.