[Syncopal neuralgia of the glossopharyngeal nerve caused by tumoral invasiveness. Therapeutic management. Apropos of 2 cases].

Cases of glossopharyngeal neuralgia are relatively rare, and are occasionally secondary to an upper cervical carcinomatous invasion. The combination with syncopal episodes suggests the creation of a reflex pathway between the glossopharyngeal nerve and the vagus nerve by connections between the bulbar nuclei. The fact that the syncopal episode is systematically preceded by a neuralgic crisis enables its differentiation from other active vasomotor phenomena. Treatment is based essentially on pain-killers and occasionally, in the event of escape, by a neurosurgical resection of the root of the glossopharyngeal nerve and of the upper part of the vagus nerve. In the light of two recent cases, the authors recall the therapeutic management and the physiopathological mechanism of this particular form of neuralgia.