[Progressive Brown-Sequard syndrome secondary to idiopathic spinal cord herniation: clinico-radiological and surgical correlations].

Introduction: Idiopathic medullary herniation is an infrequent disease, which shows up in clinical form as a progressive mielopathy, most commonly known as the Brown-Sequard syndrome. Its anatomical base is a dural defect where a portion of anterior spinal cord gets progressively incarcerated. The MRI and myelo-CT scan show a bending of the spinal cord in the form of a «bell tent» towards the anterior dural sheath at the mid-dorsal portion mainly.

Trigeminal root massage in microsurgical treatment of trigeminal neuralgia patients without arterial compression: When, how and why.

Background: During the microsurgical exploration of trigeminal root in the pontocerebellar angle in patients with primary trigeminal neuralgia (TN) without an evident arterial compression, the surgeon is in an engaged situation because there are not well-established surgical strategies. The aim of this study is to describe in these cases the surgical maneuver we call "trigeminal root massage" (TRM).

Methods: 52 consecutive patients with primary trigeminal neuralgia who had undergone a microsurgical suboccipital retrosigmoid exploration of trigeminal root were reviewed.