Trigeminal neuralgia caused by a cerebellopontine-angle lipoma: case report

This report describes the surgical management of a rare trigeminal neuralgia caused by a cerebellopontine (CP)-angle lipoma. A 13-year-old girl presented with typical trigeminal neuralgia in the right mandibular area. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) disclosed a lipoma in the right CP angle. A suboccipital craniectomy revealed a lipoma around the 7th and 8th cranial nerves, but there was no apparent lipoma on the surface of the trigeminal nerve. Since the trigeminal nerve swelled only by infiltration of the lipoma, a partial rhizotomy of the involved sensory root was inevitable. The surgery relieved her neuralgia. She remained analgesic in the mandibular area.