Tag: cross-sectional area

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Increase in Trigeminal Nerve Cross-Sectional Area on Immediate Postoperative MRI Predicts Favorable Outcome After Microvascular Decompression for Classical Trigeminal Neuralgia

Neurosurgery 92:283–292, 2023

Although distortion or indentation of a trigeminal nerve due to neurovascular compression (NVC) is associated with classical trigeminal neuralgia, whether morphological change in the trigeminal nerve is relieved by eliminating NVC has not been studied.

OBJECTIVE: To estimate morphological change in the trigeminal nerve after microvascular decompression (MVD).

METHODS: Fifty patients with classical trigeminal neuralgia who underwent MVD were included. Using coronal images in both preoperative and postoperative MRI, the trigeminal nerve cross-sectional area (CSA) was measured at 4 mm anterior to the nerve entry into the pons. Clinical outcomes were assessed using the Barrow Neurological Institute Pain Intensity Scale (BNI-PS) at the patient’s latest follow-up.

RESULTS: Forty-one patients achieved favorable outcomes without medication (BNI-PS I or II), and 9 patients had residual pain (BNI-PS ≥ 3A). The mean symptomatic trigeminal nerve CSA was increased by 51.47% after MVD in the favorable outcome group (pre-operative: 4.37 ± 1.64 mm 2 vs postoperative: 6.26 ± 1.76 mm2 , P < .01), whereas it was not significantly changed in the unfavorable outcome group (preoperative: 4.20 ± 1.19 mm2 vs postoperative: 4.43 ± 1.24 mm2 , P = .69). Kaplan–Meier survival analysis showed that the 3-year probability of maintaining a favorable outcome was 92.3 ± 7.4% and 56.1 ± 11.9%, for those whose symptomatic trigeminal nerve CSA was increased by over 20% and less than 20%, respectively (P < .01).

CONCLUSION: Morphological changes in the trigeminal nerve due to NVC could be recovered by MVD, and increases in the trigeminal nerve CSA predicted favorable outcomes.

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Are There Any Risk Factors Associated with the Presence of Cauda Equina Syndrome in Symptomatic Lumbar Disk Herniation?

World Neurosurg. (2020).https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wneu.2020.05.260

Risk factors for developing cauda equina syndrome (CES) caused by lumbar disk herniation (LDH) remain controversial and have not been established yet. The aim of the study was to investigate whether there is a relationship among age, sex, body mass index (BMI), or the degree of spinal canal compromise and the presence of CES in patients undergoing lumbar microdiskectomy.

METHODS: Between 2015 and 2019, 506 patients who had an operation for LDH compressing the dural sac were prospectively identified. The “prolapse-to-canal ratio” (PCR) was calculated as a proportion of the cross-sectional area of the disk prolapse compared with the total crosssectional area of the spinal canal.

RESULTS: In total, 35 CES (6.9%) patients were identified. Multivariate logistic regression, adjusted for age, gender, BMI, and PCR, shows that only PCR was associated with the presence of CES (P < 0.001, area under the curve 0.7431). BMI was not associated with an increased risk of CES.

CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates a significant correlation between the size of LDH relative to size of the spinal canal and the presence of CES. A finding of LDH causing >60% obstruction of the spinal canal should be considered a red flag, and such patients need to be watched more closely.

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The relationship between laminoplasty opening angle and increased sagittal canal diameter and the prediction of spinal canal expansion following double-door cervical laminoplasty

Laminoplasty formula

Eur Spine J (2015) 24:1597–1604

To clarify the relationship between laminoplastyopening angle (LOA) and the increase in sagittal canaldiameter (SCD) in double-door cervical laminoplasty(DDCL) and to predict the increase in SCD using the resulting formula.

Methods We analyzed 20 patients with multilevel cervical spondylotic myelopathy who underwent DDCL between September 2010 and January 2013. The pre- and post-operative parameters of the cervical spinal canal were measured by computed tomography. We deduced a formula describing the relationship between LOA and the increase in SCD and used it to predict the increase in SCD of these patients as LOA increased.

Results When the C3–C7 LOA was 25º–45º, the magnitude of the increase in SCD was notable (increases of 3.08–5.6 mm compared with the pre-operative SCD).When the C3–C7 LOA was more than 45º, the magnitude of the increase in SCD was relatively smaller; the increase in C3–C7 SCD with a 55º LOA was merely 0.4 mm more than with a 45º LOA. When LOA was 30º at C3–C6 or 40º at C7, the increase in SCD was more than 4 mm. When the C3–C6 LOA was 40º, SCD increased by more than 5 mm.

Conclusions The formula accurately showed the relationship between LOA and the increase in SCD in DDCL. Based on the LOA, increases in SCD following C3–C7 laminoplasty can be accurately predicted using this formula. This enables DDCL based on accurate individual LOAs, which prevents inadequate or excessive opening.

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Trigeminal nerve atrophy caused by neurovascular compression

Atrophic changes in the trigeminal nerves of patients with trigeminal neuralgia due to neurovascular compression and their association with the severity of compression and clinical outcomes

J Neurosurg 120:1484–1495, 2014

The aim of this study was to prospectively evaluate atrophic changes in trigeminal nerves (TGNs) using measurements of volume (V) and cross-sectional area (CSA) from high-resolution 3-T MR images obtained in patients with unilateral trigeminal neuralgia (TN), and to correlate these data with patient and neurovascular compression (NVC) characteristics and with clinical outcomes.

Methods. Anatomical TGN parameters (V and CSA) were obtained in 50 patients (30 women and 20 men; mean age 56.42 years, range 22–79 years) with classic TN before treatment with microvascular decompression (MVD). Parameters were compared between the symptomatic (ipsilateralTN) and asymptomatic (contralateralTN) sides of the face. Twenty normal control subjects were also included. Two independent observers blinded to the side of pain separately analyzed the images. Measurements of V (from the pons to the entrance of the nerve into Meckel’s cave) and CSA (at 5 mm from the entry of the TGN into the pons) for each TGN were performed using imaging software and axial and coronal projections, respectively. These data were correlated with patient characteristics (age, duration of symptoms before MVD, side of pain, sex, and area of pain distribution), NVC characteristics (type of vessel involved in NVC, location of compression along the nerve, site of compression around the circumference of the root, and degree of compression), and clinical outcomes at the 2-year follow-up after surgery. Comparisons were made using Bonferroni’s test. Interobserver variability was assessed using the Pearson correlation coefficient.

Results. The mean V of the TGN on the ipsilateralTN (60.35 ± 21.74 mm3) was significantly smaller (p < 0.05) than those for the contralateralTN and controls (78.62 ± 24.62 mm3 and 89.09 ± 14.72 mm3, respectively). The mean CSA of the TGN on the ipsilateralTN (4.17 ± 1.74 mm2) was significantly smaller than those for the contralateralTN and controls (5.41 ± 1.89 mm2 and 5.64 ± 0.85 mm2, respectively). The ipsilateralTN with NVC Grade III (marked indentation) had a significantly smaller mean V than the ipsilateralTN with NVC Grade I (mere contact), although it was not significantly smaller than that of the ipsilateralTN with NVC Grade II (displacement or distortion of root). The ipsilateralTN with NVC Grade III had a significantly smaller mean CSA than the ipsilateral TN with NVC Grades I and II (p < 0.05). The TGN on the ipsilateralTN in cured patients had a smaller mean CSA than that on the ipsilateralTN of patients with partial pain relief or treatment failure (p < 0.05). The same finding was almost found in relation to measurements of V, but the p value was slightly higher at 0.05.

Conclusions. Results showed that TGN atrophy in patients with TN can be demonstrated by high-resolution imaging. These data suggest that atrophic changes in TGNs, which significantly correlated with the severity of compression and clinical outcomes, may help to predict long-term prognosis after vascular decompression.

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