부산대학교 도서관

To purchase or authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1526-4610.2007.00961.x Byline: Constantine Constantoyannis, George Kagadis, Elisabeth Chroni Keywords: balloon compression; trigeminal neuralgia; trigeminal autonomic cephalalgia; cluster headache; facial pain Abstract: Objective.- This prospective study aimed to evaluate the results of percutaneous trigeminal ganglion balloon compression (BC) in patients with various types of trigeminal neuralgia (TN) and autonomic cephalalgia. Methods.- Twenty-five consecutive patients underwent BC and were followed up for 27-60 months. They were divided into 2 groups: group A (n = 18) patients with idiopathic TN and group B (n = 7) patients with secondary TN (n = 5) and trigeminal autonomic cephalalgia (TAC) (n = 2). Results.- Postoperatively, 15 patients in group A experienced pain relief, one required medication and 2 had no response; in group B, 6 were free of pain, including the 2 patients with TAC, and one required medication. Complications in both groups were either functionally trivial or infrequent. None of the patients developed keratitis or anesthesia dolorosa. Pain recurrence occurred early ( Conclusion.- Balloon compression is a minimally invasive procedure that seems to be comparably successful for idiopathic and secondary TN, as well as TAC. However, further studies are deemed necessary to establish it as the first-line treatment in medically resistant trigeminal pain. Article History: Accepted for publication July 15, 2007. Article note: Dr. Constantine Constantoyannis, University of Patras - Neurosurgery, Rion, Greece.