The study of diffusion tensor imaging of trigeminal neuralgia with vascular compression / 天津医药

ABSTRACT

Objective To study the findings and clinical application of the diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) of the trigeminal nerve root in patients with trigeminal neuralgia (TN). Methods Forty-nine patients with unilateral TN caused by vascular compression and surgically confirmed were collected in this study. The subjects were divided into group A (contact, n=22), group B (displacement, n=11) and group C (atrophy, n=16), according to the relationship between blood vessels and nerves. Conventional MRI and horizontal DTI were performed to measure cross-sectional area (CSA), mean diffusivity (MD) value, fractional anisotropy (FA) value, axial diffusivity (AD) value and radial diffusivity (RD) value in nerve roots of affected side and unaffected side. The trigeminal indexes of both affected and unaffected trigeminal nerves and data of the affected trigeminal indexes of TN patients were compared between the groups. Results The CSA and FA values were significantly lower, MD and RD values of trigeminal nerves were significantly higher in affected side than those of unaffected side ( P<0.05). But there was no significant difference in AD value between affected side and unaffected side of TN patients ( P>0.05). Values of CSA and FA were significantly higher in group A than those of group C. The value of RD was significantly lower in group A than that of group C. FA value was significantly higher in group B than that of group C (P<0.05). Conclusion The magnetic resonance DTI sequence can reflect changes in trigeminal nerve microstructure, suggesting that trigeminal demyelination is caused by vascular compression, and altered diffusion indexes of trigeminal nerve are reliable basis for the pathogenesis and the severity evaluation of TN.