Trigeminal neuralgia and its differential diagnosis (author's transl)

Trigeminal neuralgia (Tr. N.) occurring as tic douloureux usually proves to be senile neuralgia without any etiological background. On the other hand, isolated Tr. N. of the first ramus suggests the process. Bilateral Tr. N. are rare yet most frequently an expression of a multiple sclerosis with attacks first on one side and then on the other. Symptomatic Tr. N. occurs seldom as perhaps in M.S., only as tic douloureux, usually as a continuous pain with more or less acute exacerbations. Tr. N. are therapeutically problematic after operative treatment of the maxillary sinuses, still more so after herpes zoster. Other neuralgias and facial neuralgias (e.g. a glossopharyngeal neuralgia, nasociliary neuralgia, Sluder's neuralgia, Costen's syndrome, Horton's syndrome etc.) must be diagnostically differentiated from Tr. N.