Symptomatic trigeminal neuralgia in a 5-year-old child

Trigeminal neuralgia is a rare symptom in childhood. In the idiopathic variety, no objective neurological deficit is demonstrable, but in the symptomatic or secondary form, deficits of trigeminal function may be found. In the latter circumstance, underlying causative pathology must be looked for vigorously, as emphasized by the present case of symptomatic trigeminal neuralgia in a 5-year-old child, determined to be secondary to an infiltrating embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma.