Turkish Neurosurgery 2014 , Vol 24 , Num 2
Effect of the Gamma Knife Treatment on the Trigeminal Nerve Root in Chinese Patients with Primary Trigeminal Neuralgia
Zhi-Xiu SONG1, Wei QIAN2, Yu-Quan WU2, Fang-Jie SUN3, Jun FEI2, Run-Sheng HUANG2, Jing-Yu FANG2, Cai-Zhen WU2, You-Ming AN2, Daxin WANG4, Jun YANG3,4
1The First Affiliated Hospital of Xinxiang Medical University, Weihui, China
2117 Hospital of People’s Liberation Army, Center of Gamma Knife, Hangzhou, China
3Xinxiang Institute for New Medicine, Xinxianag, China
4Jiangsu Su Bei People’s Hospital, Yangzhou, China
DOI : 10.5137/1019-5149.JTN.6709-12.1 AIM: To understand the mechanism of the gamma knife treating the trigeminal neuralgia.

MATERIAL and METHODS: Using the MASEP-SRRS type gamma knife treatment system, 140 Chinese patients with trigeminal neuralgia (NT) were treated in our hospital from 2002 to 2010, in which the pain relief rate reached 95% and recurrence rate was 3% only. We investigated the effect of the gamma knife treatment on the trigeminal nerve root in 20 Chinese patients with primary trigeminal neuralgia by the magnetic resonance imager (MRI) observation.

RESULTS: 1) The cross-sectional area of trigeminal nerve root became smaller and MRI signals were lower in the treatment side than those in the non-treatment side after the gamma knife treatment of primary trigeminal neuralgia; 2) in the treatment side, the cross-sectional area of the trigeminal nerve root decreased significantly after the gamma knife treatment; 3) there was good correlation between the clinical improvement and the MRI findings; and 4) the straight distance between the trigeminal nerve root and the brainstem did not change after the gamma knife treatment.

CONCLUSION: The pain relief induced the gamma knife radiosurgery might be related with the atrophy of the trigeminal nerve root in Chinese patients with primary trigeminal neuralgia. Keywords : Gamma knife, Trigeminal nerve root, Primary trigeminal neuralgia, MRI

Corresponding author : Jun Yang, bcd2009@126.com