Pontine hemorrhages presenting as trigeminal neuropathy--report of three cases

Three patients with pontine hemorrhages presenting clinically as trigeminal neuropathy are described. No patient was hypertensive and angiograms were normal. Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging showed heterogeneous lesions, suggesting cavernous malformation, in one patient, but no definite diagnosis could be made in the other two patients. Such cases are rare and should be evaluated using serial MR imaging to differentiate angiographically occult vascular malformation from spontaneous hemorrhage.