Favourable prognosis of trigeminal neuralgia when enrolled in a multidisciplinary management program - a two-year prospective real-life study

Table 5 Baseline neuroimaging findings

MRI findings
		24 months medical follow-up	Surgical treatment < 24 months after 1st outpatient visit	P-value
		N = 95*	N = 50
		N (%) 95% Cl	N (%) 95% Cl
Grade	Neurovascular contact with morphological changes** (Classical trigeminal neuralgia)	37 (39) 28–48	25 (50) 36–65	0.27
	Neurovascular contact without morphological changes (Idiopathic trigeminal neuralgia)	44 (46) 36–57	22 (44) 30–59	0.93
	No neurovascular contact (Idiopathic trigeminal neuralgia)	14 (15) 9–25	3 (6) 1–17	0.17^a
Type of contact	Contact caused by one or more arteries	38 (40) 30–51	28 (56) 44–74	0.10
	Contact caused by one or more veins	24 (24) 17–36	7 (14) 6–27	0.17
	Mixed contact (artery and vein)	19 (20) 12–29	12 (24) 14–40	0.73

The protocol and evaluation of the MRI scans were identical for patients with unilateral and bilateral pain. Results of the evaluations of patients with bilateral pain were included in the analysis of MRI findings only if the degree and type of contact between the trigeminal nerve and adjacent vessel(s), were the same on both sides. *Four patients with bilateral pain were excluded due to differences between sides. Four patients did not have a MRI according to protocol. **Displacement and/or atrophy of the trigeminal nerve. ^aFisher’s exact test. CL = 95% confidence limits

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