Trigeminal neuralgia in an HIV patient

Abstract

Trigeminal neuralgia is a painful condition affecting face. Its commonest cause is the tortuous vessels in prepontine cistern. There are other causes also, like brainstem lesions and mass lesions, as well as inflammatory causes. We present a case of an HIV patient with marked involvement of trigeminal nerves, which is a unique finding in immunocompromised patients.

Keywords

• Human immunodeficiency virus
• Trigeminal nerve
• Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)