Neurovascular relationships in the posterior cranial fossa, with special reference to trigeminal neuralgia. 1. Review of the literature and development of a new method of vascular injection-filling in cadaveric controls

Vascular compression of cranial nerves adjacent to the brain stem has been implicated in a wide variety of disorders affecting their function. The considerable conflicts in published results relate primarily to flaws in study design. The design required of an adequate study is defined and a technique is presented, in 16 fresh human cadavers, of reliable and physiological injection‐filling of both the cerebral arterial and venous systems. It allowed for the accurate observation of the normal neurovascular relationships in the posterior cranial fossa during operative simulation. Part 2 of this article concerns the use of this design in the study of trigeminal neuralgia, a disorder thought to relate to vascular compression of the fifth cranial nerve. Clin. Anat. 10:371–379, 1997. © 1997 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.