Abstract
Aim of this investigation: The cause of Trigeminal neuralgia (TN) and Hemi facial spasm (HFS) was reported to be a vascular compression with the root exit zone (REZ) of the 5th or 7th cranial nerve. Microvascular decompression (MVD) was generally performed. Current preoperative studies, CT, MRI, angiography, are not able to demonstrate the detail of the relationship between cranial nerve and offending vessels in REZ. Thus, we investigated the relationship, using spoiledGRASS MRI (SPGR-MRI) with 3 dimensional-time of fly-magnetic resonance angiography (3D-TOF-MRA).
Method and Result: Thirtynine patients with TN and HFS were investigated by imaging SPGR-MRI combined with 3D-TOF-MRA. Sixteen of 24 (67%) with TN had ipsilateral vascular compression of 5th cranial nerve, and twelve of 17 (71%) with HFS had similar compression of the 7th and 8th nerve complex.
Conclusion: This method combining SPGR-MRI with 3D-TOF-MRA is very useful to identify the offending vessels in TN and HFS.
