Articles: microvascular-decompression-surgery.
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Microvascular decompression (MVD) has remained the first-line surgical treatment of trigeminal neuralgia when an offending vessel can be identified that is causing neurovascular compression. However, patients without neurovascular compression can either develop trigeminal neuralgia or recurrence after MVD. In addition, patients with venous and less severe arterial compression have been shown to have reduced efficacy after MVD. Internal neurolysis is a surgical technique used to separate the fascicles of the trigeminal nerve and might be a good option for patients with trigeminal neuralgia but without vascular compression. ⋯ Internal neurolysis with and without MVD has shown efficacy in treating trigeminal neuralgia in carefully selected patients.
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Review Case Reports
Concurrent Glossopharyngeal Neuralgia and Hemi-Laryngopharyngeal Spasm (HeLPS): A Case Report and a Review of the Literature.
Hemi-laryngopharyngeal spasm (HeLPS) has been recently described but is not yet widely recognized. Patients describe intermittent coughing and choking and can be cured following microvascular decompression of their Xth cranial nerve. This case report and literature review highlight that HeLPS can co-occur with glossopharyngeal neuralgia (GN) and has been previously described (but not recognized) in the neurosurgical literature. ⋯ This review highlights that patients with symptoms compatible with HeLPS have been reported since 1926 in at least 4 languages. This additional evidence supports the growing recognition that HeLPS is another neurovascular compression syndrome. Patients with HeLPS continue to be misdiagnosed as conversion disorder. The increased recognition of this new medical condition will require neurosurgical treatment and should alleviate the suffering of these patients.
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Hemifacial spasm (HFS) is a benign, chronic, involuntary movement of the muscles involved in facial expressions that typically begins in the orbicularis oculi and spreads to the other expression muscles over several years. ⋯ The disappearance of the LSR before and after MVD may predict clinical outcomes. This must be considered together with the disappearance or persistence of LSR after decompression as a prognostic factor for HFS after MVD.