Sebastian Schmitter1,
Bharathi D. Jagadeesan2, Andrew W. Grande3, Julien Sein1,
Kamil Ugurbil1, Pierre-Francois Van de Moortele1
1Center
for Magnetic Resonance Research, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN,
United States; 2Departments of Radiology and Neurosurgery,
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States; 3Departments
of Radiology, Neurosurgery and Neurology, University of Minnesota,
Minneapolis, MN, United States
Trigeminal Neuralgia is characterized by episodic severe facial pain possibly from pulsatile compression of the nerve Root Entry Zone of the Trigeminal Nerve (REZ) by the adjacent superior cerebellar artery (SCA). The exact role of pulsatility of SCA loops in the etiology of TN remains unknown since similar anatomical proximity of SCA and REZ can be found in normal individuals and there are no methods to measure the pulsatility of the SCA currently available. Herein we report the feasibility of measuring the Pulsatility Index (PI) of the SCA using 4D MRA in a normal volunteer at 7 Tesla.
Keywords