Arnold Chiari Type I malformation presenting as a trigeminal neuralgia: case report.
OBJECTIVE
Arnold Chiari Type I malformation usually presents as headache, arm numbness, dysesthesia, upper weakness, or gait difficulty. We report a case of Chiari malformation presenting as a left trigeminal neuralgia.


METHODS
A patient with a history of 29 years of trigeminal neuralgia was admitted. He was treated with three thermocoagulations. Microvascular decompression was planified. Magnetic resonance imaging was performed, and it demonstrated an Arnold Chiari malformation. After surgery, the patient was asymptomatic.


METHODS
Posterior fossa decompression by enlarging the foramen magnum and aspiration of the cerebellar tonsils was performed.


CONCLUSIONS
The trigeminal neuralgia could be attributable to a compression of the trigeminal nucleus. The compression of the nucleus could explain both the pain and the regression after surgery. This is the second reported case of pure trigeminal neuralgia in Arnold Chiari malformation.
Rosetti
P
P
Department of Neurology, Hôpital Erasme-ULB, Brussels, Belgium.
Ben Taib
N O
NO
Brotchi
J
J
De Witte
O
O
D000368:Aged; D001139:Arnold-Chiari Malformation / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery; D019299:Decompression, Surgical; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D014277:Trigeminal Neuralgia / Q000175:diagnosis*