title: Gamma knife radiosurgery for medically refractory idiopathic trigeminal neuralgia.
abstract: Gamma knife radiosurgery (GKS) has been generally considered as a viable therapeutic option for the management of medically refractory idiopathic trigeminal neuralgia (TN). We reviewed our experience with GKS in patients with TN. Between Feb 1996 and May 2006, 77 patients with medical refractory idiopathic TN were treated using GKS. Thirty-six patients who had undergone other previous procedures, previous GKS, or had brain stem lesion, atypical symptoms, were excluded from this study. Pain improvement was achieved in 38 of the patients with TN (pain response rate 92.7%). Twenty-three patients were pain free and 15 had reduced pain. There were no serious complications. We think that GKS is an effective treatment option for patients with medical refractory idiopathic TN.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Brain Korea 21 Project for Medical Science & Brain Research Institute, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: Y S
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Yoon
authors.forename: D W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: S S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.forename: J W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Chang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010147:Pain Measurement; D016634:Radiosurgery / Q000379:methods*; D013238:Stereotaxic Techniques; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014277:Trigeminal Neuralgia / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*