Postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) is a form of refractory chronic neuralgia that, despite the importance of prevention, currently lacks any effective prophylaxis. The efficacy of live zoster vaccine in preventing PHN was recently reported [1]. However, this vaccine appeared to be of limited use in prophylaxis[2]. PHN has a variety of symptoms and significantly affects patient quality of life [3-12]....

Twenty-six patients with herpetic neuralgia were divided into 2 groups. Group 1 consisted of 13 patients with acute herpetic neuralgia, arbitrarily defined as pain beginning from 0 days to 3 months after the onset of herpes zoster infection. Group 2 consisted of 13 patients treated during the course of the postherpetic neuralgia, arbitrarily defined as pain lasting 3 months or more from the ons...

Intercostal neuralgia is pain in the thoracic region emanating from an intercostal nerve. It occurs commonly after thoracotomy. It can also be seen in elderly debilitated patients without a known precipitating event, other causes include rib trauma, very rarely benign periosteal lipoma and pregnancy. Intercostal neuralgia due to surgical injury of the intercostal nerve has traditionally been di...

Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) is a bone disorder that can lead to skull base deformities such as basilar invagination, which can cause compression of cranial nerves, including the trigeminal nerve. Trigeminal neuralgia in such cases remains a challenge, given distorted anatomy and deformities. We present an alternative option, consisting in cannulation of the foramen ovale and classical percutan...

OBJECTIVES To describe a patient with a demyelinating brainstem lesion who developed right-sided trigeminal neuralgia triggered by auditory stimuli and to discuss the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying this unusual phenomenon. DESIGN Case report. SETTING Referral center. PATIENT A 27-year-old man who presented with clinical signs of a brainstem lesion developed right-sided trigemina...

Trigeminal neuralgia is the most common neuralgia. Its therapeutic approach is challenging as the first line treatment often does not help, or even causes intolerable side effects. The aim of our randomized double blind, placebo controlled, crossover study was to investigate in a prospective way the effect of lidocaine in patients with trigeminal neuralgia. Twenty patients met our inclusion cri...

INTRODUCTION Magnetic stimulation of the sacral nerve roots is used for neurologic examination. However, no one has reported therapeutic efficacy of pain relief from pudendal neuralgia with sacral magnetic stimulation. METHODS Five patients with pudendal neuralgia or sciatica received 30 to 50 pulsed magnetic stimuli of the sacral nerve roots. The median age of the patients was 59 (range, 28-...

An elderly woman who presented with Adams-Stokes attacks that were preceded by paroxysms of neuralgia was successfully treated with carbamazepine. Ventricular asystole was provoked by pharyngeal pain and coincided with loss of consciousness. Vagal reflexes are probably responsible for the bradycardia that causes the cardiac symptoms of glossopharyngeal neuralgia. Carbamazepine (600 mg/day) abol...

Postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) is a common complication of herpes zoster, frequently unresponsive to most available treatment. The disease is especially difficult to manage in elderly people and has a great impact on the quality of life of patients. Narrow band ultraviolet B radiation may play a role in the prevention and treatment of PHN. Present paper describes a case of a 59 year-old female pa...

A 72-year-old female patient is presented, who was diagnosed with herpes zoster along the left ophthalmic branch of the trigeminal nerve with associated cutaneous vesicles. The patient subsequently developed postherpetic neuralgia in the same dermatome, which, after remission, transformed into paroxysmal trigeminal pain. The two different symptom sets, with the former consistent with PHN and th...