Case report: Don’t forget to look at the face! Missed trigeminal lesion on brain MRI: The critical role of evaluating the facial segment
Antoine Bender, Francis Veillon, Amélie Albisetti, Eric Salvat, Mirela MuresanIntroduction
Trigeminal neuralgia may be secondary to an underlying condition. Clinical findings alone are not sufficient to distinguish primary neuralgia from secondary neuralgia. Failing to recognize a cancer diagnosis can result in missed opportunities. We present two cases of trigeminal neuralgia that were initially thought to be idiopathic but turned out to be secondary to an ear, nose, and throat (ENT) cancer.
Objective
Raise awareness among clinicians to examine the entire trigeminal nerve along with its entire course, not just where it emerges from the Cerebellopontine angle.
Conclusion
This article emphasizes the importance of examining the extracranial portion of the trigeminal nerve, particularly in cases of clinical atypia and the absence of neurovascular compression.