Investigation of foramen rotundum and foramen ovale morphometric in trigeminal neuralgia patients

Trigeminal neuralgia (TN), which directly affects the quality of life of individuals and is characterized by severe pain in the facial region, is defined as inflammation of any branch of the nervus trigeminus. Although it has been known for centuries, the physiopathology of the disease has not been clearly established. This study aimed to investigate the morphometric structure of the foramen ovale (FO) and foramen rotundum (FR) on Computed Tomography (CT) images of individuals diagnosed with trigeminal neuralgia (TN) without any vascular compression. The study included 34 patients (16 males, 18 females) diagnosed with TN at the Neurology Clinic of Tokat Gaziosmanpaşa University Faculty of Medicine, Tokat and 34 individuals (15 males, 19 females) who were selected as the control group (CG). Brain CT images of all individuals were opened in Horos program in coronal, sagittal and transverse planes. Plane corrections were made on the opened images and these were named as modified planes. Morphometric measurements were performed on the modified planes. There was no significant difference between the FO length and width parameters of the trigeminal neuralgia group (TNG) and the CG (p>0.05). The measurement parameters of FR were significantly smaller in TNG (p<0.001). The probability of right-sided nerve involvement increased with increasing age (p<0.005). We believe that knowing the morphology of FO and FR will contribute to clinicians in diagnostic and interventional treatment approaches of TN.