Application of Virtual Endoscopy in Microvascular Decompression of Trigeminal Neuralgia

Purpose: The main purpose of this study is to evaluate the accuracy of virtual endoscopy (VE) in microvascular decompression (MVD) for the treatment of trigeminal neuralgia (TN). Methods: A total of 30 TN patients aged 42 to 70 years were recruited from January 2015 to January 2019, and all patients were confirmed to have severe neurovascular compression (NVC) (≥degree 2) by magnetic resonance tomographic angiography (MRTA). Preoperative MRTA and enhanced CT were performed, and the data were imported into Stlview software for VE simulation of MVD. The reliability of VE, real endoscopy, and MRTA in evaluating the degree and position of MVD in TN patients was compared. Results: Virtual endoscopy is more reliable than MRTA in evaluating the degree of NVC, but both of them are reliable in determining the position of NVC in TN patients. Conclusions: Virtual endoscopy can be used in MVD for the treatment of TN, including preoperative diagnosis and risk evaluation, intraoperative guidance, and postoperative evaluation.