Vertebrobasilar dolichoectasia to trigeminal neuralgia: case report

Abstract Vertebrobasilar dolichoectasia (VBD) is a dilated arterial disease with a diameter ˃4.5 mm. Trigeminal neuralgia (TN) is chronic neuropathic pain. Through the diagnosis and treatment of this case we believe that there is a significant risk associated with the endovascular treatment of VBD. The development of post-operative complications caused some functional impairment to the patient, but the improvement in TN symptoms with this endovascular treatment was unexpected. This treatment procedure was considered to be possibly related to the alteration of the tortuous path of the vessels, changing their course, allowing the displacement of vascular compression in the trigeminal root entry zone, and possibly also altering the hemodynamics of the posterior circulation, improving the progression of ischemia and hypoxia-induced demyelination of the trigeminal nerve. Due to the low incidence of this disease, there are not enough large sample studies for systematic statistical analysis.