Symptoms of facial spasm and trigeminal neuralgia

Diagnosis of facial spasm and trigeminal neuralgia

Early Development of an MRI Detection Method

A device called a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner is used to perform detailed scans of the areas in which the facial nerve leaves the brain and the trigeminal nerve enters. Formerly, patients were hospitalized and put on an intravenous drip during scanning, but today all such scans can be performed on an outpatient basis. At Tokai University Hospital, we were among the first to develop an MRI detection method for finding the point at which a blood vessel comes into contact with the nerve, causing this disorder. The location of contact with the blood vessel can be identified in 80% of patients. MRI is, of course, also used to confirm the absence of brain tumors.

page top