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72. Jahrestagung der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Neurochirurgie (DGNC)
Joint Meeting mit der Polnischen Gesellschaft für Neurochirurgie

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Neurochirurgie (DGNC) e. V.

06.06. - 09.06.2021

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Virtual reality evaluation of microvascular conflict in patients with trigeminal neuralgia

Virtual-Reality – Evaluation des mikrovaskulären Konflikts bei Patienten mit Trigeminusneuralgie

Meeting Abstract

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  • presenting/speaker Samer Zawy Alsofy - St. Barbaraklinik Hamm-Heessen, Hamm, Deutschland
  • presenting/speaker Heinz Welzel Saravia - St. Barbaraklinik Hamm-Heessen, Hamm, Deutschland
  • Makoto Nakamura - Fakultät für Gesundheit, Universität Witten/Herdecke, Witten, Deutschland; Krankenhaus Köln-Merheim, Neurochirurgie, Köln, Deutschland
  • Christian Ewelt - Fakultät für Gesundheit, Universität Witten/Herdecke, Witten, Deutschland

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Neurochirurgie. 72. Jahrestagung der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Neurochirurgie (DGNC), Joint Meeting mit der Polnischen Gesellschaft für Neurochirurgie. sine loco [digital], 06.-09.06.2021. Düsseldorf: German Medical Science GMS Publishing House; 2021. DocP086

doi: 10.3205/21dgnc374, urn:nbn:de:0183-21dgnc3741

Published: June 4, 2021

© 2021 Zawy Alsofy et al.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. See license information at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

Outline

Text

Objective: Trigeminal neuralgia (TN) is a lightning bolt of violent, electrifying, and stinging pain, often secondary to the neurovascular conflict (NVC). The vessels involved in NVC are mostly arteries and rarely veins. Evaluation of NVC in the deep infratentorial region is inseparably connected with cranial imaging. We retrospectively analyzed the potential influence of three-dimensional (3D) virtual reality (VR) reconstructions compared to two-dimensional (2D) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans on the evaluation of NVC for the surgical planning of microvascular decompression in patients with TN.

Methods: Medical files were retrospectively analyzed regarding patient- and disease-related data. Preoperative MRI scans were retrospectively visualized via VR software to detect the characteristics of NVC. A questionnaire evaluated the influence of VR visualization technique on identification of anatomical structures involved in NVC and on surgical strategy.

Results: Twenty-four patients were included. Image presentation using 3D-VR modality significantly influenced the identification of the affected trigeminal nerve (p=0.004), the vascular structure involved in the NVC (p=0.0002), and the affected side of the trigeminal nerve (p=0.005).

Conclusion: In patients with TN caused by NVC, the reconstruction of conventional preoperative 2D-MRI scans into 3D images and the spatial and anatomical presentation in VR models offers the possibility of increased understanding of the anatomy and pathology, and thus influences operation planning and strategy.

Figure 1 [Fig. 1]