Diagnostic value of quantitative evaluation of trigeminal nerve morphology in primary trigeminal neuralgia

Abstract:

Objective：To compare the volume（V） and cross-sectional area（CSA） of the trigeminal nerves（TGNs） of the symptomatic side and the asymptomatic side in patients with and without primary trigeminal neuralgia（PTN），and to analyze the correlation between the above morphological parameters and the degree of facial pain and disease duration in PTN patients. Methods：43 PTN patients and 43 age- and gender-matched healthy volunteers were recruited in the study，all of the participants underwent three-di－mensional fast imaging employing steady state acquisition（3D-FIESTA） and time-of-flight magnetic resonance angiography（TOF-MRA）. CSA and V of the TGNs were calculated using medical image processing，analysis，and visualization（MIPAV） software. Correlation of the above morphological parameters and visual analog scale（VAS） with disease duration in PTN group was analyzed. Results：V[（62.15±8.92） mm3] and CSA[（3.90±0.57） mm2] of the symptomatic TGN were signi cantly smaller than in the asymp－tomatic TGN in patients[V：80.93±10.01） mm3，CSA：（5.05±0.63） mm2] and bilateral sides in controls[V：（78.10±6.47） mm3，（4.91±0.39） mm2；FV=53.920，P=0.001；FCSA=52.519，P=0.001]. No statistical differences were detected between morphological data of the asymptomatic TGN and control TGNs. CSA（r=-0.643，P=0.001） and V（r=-0.608，P=0.001） of the symptomatic TGN had nega－tive correlation with VAS scores and showed a tendency（al－though not statistically signi cant） to have correlation with dis－ease duration in PTN patients. Conclusion：Degree of atrophy in the symptomatic TGN may become one of the imaging indicators for evaluating facial pain in PTN.