Meningioma related trigeminal neuralgia presenting as odontalgia: A case report

Kwak, Kyung Hwa; Lee, Jeong Eun; Han, Jae Kyung; Hwang, Doo Youn; Kim, Min Ji; Jeon, Younghoon; Yeo, Jin Seok

Case Report

Neuroanesthesia

Anesthesia and Pain Medicine 2013;8(2):117-120.
Published online April 30, 2013.

Meningioma related trigeminal neuralgia presenting as odontalgia: A case report

Kyung Hwa Kwak, Jeong Eun Lee, Jae Kyung Han, Doo Youn Hwang, Min Ji Kim, Younghoon Jeon, Jin Seok Yeo

¹Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Kyungpook National University Hospital, Daegu, Korea. jsyeo@hmail.knu.ac.kr
²Department of Dentistry, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, Korea.

Abstract

Classical trigeminal neuralgia is characterized by recurrent attacks of lancinating pain in the trigeminal nerve distribution, and no cause of the symptoms can be identified, other than vascular compression. This type of injury may rarely be caused by identifiable conditions, including tumor in the cerebellopontine angle. If the patient is suspected for secondary trigeminal neuralgia, further evaluation is required to diagnose and treat correctly. We report a case of a 49-year-old woman with a 1-month history of facial pain, who was initially misdiagnosed as odontalgia, and even treated with the extraction of her molar teeth. This case with the review of secondary trigeminal neuralgia may highlight the difficulties of diagnosis, and the importance of early diagnostic imaging, when trigeminal neuralgia occurs with a brain tumor.

Key Words: Cerebellopontine angle tumor, Secondary trigeminal neuralgia, Trigeminal neuralgia