• Tugrul Cem Unal, Omer Faruk Unal, Orhan Barlas, Kemal Hepgul, Achmet Ali, Aydin Aydoseli, Yavuz Aras, Pulat Akin Sabanci, Altay Sencer, and Nail Izgi.
• Department of Neurosurgery, Tunceli State Hospital, Tunceli, Turkey. Electronic address: tugrulcem@gmail.com.
• World Neurosurg. 2017 Nov 1; 107: 69-74.

ObjectiveTo analyze 3T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings and clinical features of patients with trigeminal neuralgia (TN) who underwent percutaneous balloon compression and to determine whether these findings had an impact on prognosis of TN.MethodsA retrospective review of patients with TN who underwent percutaneous balloon compression in the Neurosurgery Department at Istanbul Faculty of Medicine between January 1, 2007, and January 1, 2016, was undertaken. Of 105 patients who underwent percutaneous balloon compression, 27 patients who received surgical treatment for the first time for typical TN were included in the study. Follow-up data, clinical features, and 3T MRI findings were analyzed retrospectively. MRI findings and clinical features of patients with and without recurrence of TN were compared. The correlation between fractional anisotropy (FA) values and recurrence was investigated.ResultsDuring follow-up, 9 (33%) patients had recurrence. The patients with recurrence had longer duration of symptoms (P = 0.032), higher FA difference (P = 0.042), and higher FA difference rate (P = 0.023). A trend toward early recurrence was found in patients with higher FA difference rate, although this was not significant (P = 0.051, R = 0.319).ConclusionsSymptom duration was longer and microstructural changes were more apparent in patients with recurrence. In addition to age, comorbidities, and other clinical and radiographic features, symptom duration and FA values obtained with 3T MRI might be valuable information in surgical decision making.Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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