CASE REPORTS   

Journal of Neurosurgical Sciences 2012 June;56(2):151-4

Copyright © 2012 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Surgical treatment for combined hemifacial spasm and atypical trigeminal neuralgia caused by a tortuous basilar artery. Case report and review of the literature

Gressot L. V. ¹, Hassaneen W. ², Fox B. D. ¹, Mitchell B. D. ¹, Tatsui C. E. ¹, Ehni B. L. ¹, Omeis I. ¹ ✉

¹ Department of Neurosurgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA; ² Department of Neurosurgery, University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA

Simultaneous hemifacial spasm (HFS) and trigeminal neuralgia caused by cranial nerve (CN) compression from a tortuous basilar artery (BA) is very rare. We report a case of a 66-year-old man who presented with both HFS and “atypical” trigeminal neuralgia. The patient had a tortuous BA compressing both CN V and VII. The patient underwent microvascular decompression after failing conservative medical management. To the best of our knowledge this is the first reported case of both HFS and “atypical” trigeminal neuralgia that were both successfully treated by surgical intervention. We report the management of this rare combination and review the literature.