Radiology Department, Hospital Municipal of Haikou, Hainan, China.
Asian Pac J Trop Med. 2012 Jun;5(6):476-9. doi: 10.1016/S1995-7645(12)60082-0.
To describe the anatomical characteristics and patterns of neurovascular compression (NVC) in patients suffering trigeminal neuralgia (TN) by 3D high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) method and image fusion technique.
The anatomic structure of trigeminal nerve, brain stem and blood vessel was observed in 100 consecutive TN patients by 3D high resolution MRI (3D SPGR, contrast-enhanced T1 3D MP-RAGE and T2/T1 3D FIESTA). The 3D image sources were fused and visualized using 3D DOCTOR software.
One or several NVC sites, which usually appeared 0-9.8 mm away from brain stem, were found on the symptomatic side in 93% of the TN cases. Superior cerebellar artery was involved in 76% (71/93) of these cases. The other vessels including antero-inferior cerebellar artery, vertebral artery, basilar artery and veins also contributed to the occurrence of NVC. The NVC sites were found to be located in the proximal segment in 42% of these cases (39/93) and in the distal segment in 45% (42/93). Nerve dislocation or distortion was observed in 32% (30/93).
Various 3D high resolution MRI methods combined with the image fusion technique could provide pathologic anatomic information for the diagnosis and treatment of TN.
通过 3D 高分辨率磁共振成像（3D SPGR、增强 T1 三维 MP-RAGE 和 T2/T1 三维 FIESTA）方法和图像融合技术，描述三叉神经痛（TN）患者神经血管压迫（NVC）的解剖特征和模式。
对 100 例连续的 TN 患者进行 3D 高分辨率 MRI（3D SPGR、增强 T1 三维 MP-RAGE 和 T2/T1 三维 FIESTA）观察三叉神经、脑干和血管的解剖结构。使用 3D DOCTOR 软件对 3D 图像源进行融合和可视化。
在 93%的 TN 病例中，在症状侧发现了 1 个或多个 NVC 部位，这些部位通常距脑干 0-9.8mm 。在这些病例中，76%（71/93）涉及小脑上动脉。其他血管，包括小脑前下动脉、椎动脉、基底动脉和静脉，也导致了 NVC 的发生。NVC 部位位于近端节段的占 42%（39/93），位于远端节段的占 45%（42/93）。32%（30/93）观察到神经脱位或扭曲。
各种 3D 高分辨率 MRI 方法结合图像融合技术，可为 TN 的诊断和治疗提供病理解剖信息。
