T2 Signal Intensity of the Trigeminal Nerve: A New Diagnostic Criteria for Trigeminal Neuralgia?

Abstract

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to: 1) compare the size and T2 signal intensity of the trigeminal nerves on the symptomatic side and asymptomatic side of the patients with idiopathic trigeminal neuralgia and to correlate these morphological findings with each other in order to assess whether Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) can provide evidence of microstructural changes in the affected trigeminal nerve that could be potential imaging markers for diagnosis and monitoring trigeminal neuralgia 2) correlate these data with the pain score of the patients in order to search a quantitative evaluation method of the pain in patients with Trigeminal Neuralgia (TN).