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Aetiology

Last reviewed dd mmm yyyy. Last edited dd mmm yyyy

Authoring team

Exact cause of trigeminal neuralgia remains unclear (1)

  • most cases are considered idiopathic (1)
  • many are associated with demyelination of the trigeminal nerve. This can be due to
    • vascular compression of the nerve root by aberrant or tortuous vessels
    • multiple sclerosis or tumours affecting the nerve root. (1)

Several other causes have been described as well in which demyelination may also be an underlying cause e.g. - amyloid infiltration, arteriovenous malformations, bony compression, and small infarcts in the pons and medulla (1).

Reference:

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