Microvascular decompression for primary trigeminal neuralgia: long-term effectiveness and prognostic factors in a series of 362 consecutive patients with clear-cut neurovascular conflicts who underwent pure decompression.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the long-term efficacy of microvascular decompression (MVD) and to identify the factors affecting outcome in patients treated for primary trigeminal neuralgia (TN). Only the cases with a clear-cut neurovascular conflict (vascular contact and/or compression of the root entry zone of the trigeminal nerve) found at surgery and treated with "pure" MVD (decompression of the root without any additional lesioning or cutting of the adjacent rootlets) were retained.