tommy bergenheim <tommy.bergenheim at neuro.umu.se> wrote:
>Trigeminal neuralgia in its primary form is essentially considered
>to be caused by vascular compression of the nerve root adjacent
>to the pons.
Why is it that the periods of pain are intermittent and that there can
be long periods of remission? If it is caused by vascular compression,
why is the pain not constantly there?
>The facial pain syndrome sometimes appearing after
>herpetic infections presents with quite different symptoms. Further on,
>the postherpetic pain does not respond to the treatment modalities,
>i.e. microvascular decompressiuon, radiofrequency lesioning or glycerol
>rhizotomy, used for trigeminal neuralgia.
I was not asking about postherpetic pain, but rather asking if it is
possible that TN could be caused by an internal herpes simplex infection.
Since the HSV which appears as cold sores on the lips lies dormant in the
trigeminal ganglion between attacks, why couldn't it attack the
trigeminal nerve itself? Could TN be cause by an internal herpes
infection? Is there even such a thing as an internal herpes infection?
Marian Russell
MRussell at sgit.iaea.or.at
