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Published on: July 5, 2011
Percutaneous Balloon Compression for Trigeminal Neuralgia Because of Pontine Cavernous Angioma
Wei Zhang1, Xinghua Jiang1, Yaping Wang1
1Department of Pain Management and Anesthesiology, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.
Background:
A cavernous malformation (CM) with trigeminal neuralgia (TN) is relatively rare. We report a patient who presented with TN caused by a CM in the cerebellopontine angle.
Case Description:
A 37-year-old man presented with a history of episodic, shock-like, right facial pain of 2 months' duration. Neurologic examination revealed diminished sensation in the distribution of the right trigeminal nerve. Magnetic resonance imaging showed an ipsilateral minimally enhancing lesion affecting the trigeminal nerve with characteristics of a CM and evidence of hemorrhage in the cerebellopontine angle. The patient underwent percutaneous balloon compression (PBC) of the Gasserian ganglion for trigeminal ganglia. The patient's pain improved significantly after completion of this microsurgical method.
Conclusions:
CMs can damage the trigeminal nerve and cause TN. PBC of the Gasserian ganglion can be undertaken safely and can relieve pain caused by TN caused by CM in the cerebellopontine angle.
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