The use of the MRI in the diagnosis of facial pain and hemifacial spasm

Abstract

The fact that both hemifacial spasm and pain can be caused by vascular compression of the nerve has been known anatomically for some time. It was not until the use of the MRI which allowed us to look in the posterior fossa that we can now identify this anatomical variant without doing invasive studies. The paper reports on three cases from the author's series of ten such cases.

Key Words:

• MRI
• facial pain
• hemifacial spasm