• João Thiago Frossard, Flavio Domingues, Pedro Neves, Nathalie Canhedo, and Jorge Marcondes de Souza.
• Service of Neurosurgery and Post Graduation Program of Surgical Sciences, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
• World Neurosurg. 2016 Feb 1; 86: 514.e19-22.

BackgroundCavernous malformation (CM) is a vascular malformation found in the encephalic parenchyma, spinal cord, nerve roots, and extraneural tissue. CM in the trigeminal distribution is exquisitely uncommon and its biological behavior not completely understood. The clinical picture might be diverse, depending on the affected sector of the trigeminal architecture, and literature debating its pathobiology is scarce.Case DescriptionWe describe a case of 56-year-old woman who presented with left trigeminal neuralgia and a rapidly growing cavernous malformation of the entire distribution of the fifth nerve. The clinical picture evolved to a progressive gait ataxia and follow-up neuroimaging showed a large intracranial mass leading to a brainstem compression. After microsurgical resection, the mass proved to be a typical CM of the trigeminal root.ConclusionWe present an uncommonly aggressive progression of a CM of the trigeminal root, Gasserian ganglion, and cavernous sinus evolving to severe brainstem compression. The documentation of this unique case as well as its management is presented is discussed.Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

18 keywords...

hide…