Morphometric evaluation of trigeminal nerve and meckel cave with 3.0 magnetic resonance imaging

• Published in: Journal of the Anatomical Society of India 2020-01, Vol.69 (1), p.31-36
• Main Authors: Sen, Selva, Bilgin, Sabriye, Atasever, Alper
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Magnetic resonance imaging
• ISSN: 0003-2778; 2352-3050
• DOI: 10.4103/JASI.JASI_38_19

Introduction: This study aimed to investigate morphometric features of the trigeminal nerve in healthy people on magnetic resonance images. The alterations in the size of the trigeminal nerve in the cisternal region along with aging and asymmetry between the right and left trigeminal nerves were also assessed. The knowledge of normal morphometric properties of the trigeminal nerve may be useful in evaluating patients having trigeminal neuralgia. Material and Methods: This retrospective study included 120 (62 males, 58 female) healthy individuals over 20 years old who had no previous or current cranial pathology. According to age ranges, individuals were evaluated in four groups as 20-29 years, 30-39 years, 40-49 years, and 50 years and older. Besides the long- and short-axis lengths of the trigeminal nerve, long- and short-axis lengths of Meckel cave, as well as the trigeminal-pons angle, were measured using three-dimensional balance fast-field echo sequence with 3T magnetic resonance imaging on the right and left sides.Results: It was observed that the lengths of trigeminal nerve were shorter on the right side in comparison to the left side (mean long axis 0,79 ± 0,20 cm on the right, 0,86 ± 0,28 cm on the left, P