Fully Endoscopic Microvascular Decompression: Our Early Experience

Figure 2

Endoscopic view of the vascular compression associated with cases of trigeminal neuralgia, hemifacial spasm, and glossopharyngeal neuralgia. The left panel demonstrates compression of CN 5 by the superior cerebellar artery (top) with subsequent decompression with Teflon (bottom). The middle panel illustrates compression of CN 7 by the anterior inferior cerebellar artery (top). Note that CN 7 is found on the inferior aspect of CN 8, which requires decompression deep to the CN 7-8 complex (bottom). The right panel demonstrates a case of glossopharyngeal neuralgia caused by vertebral artery contact (top) and the associated decompression (bottom). Cranial nerve (CN); superior cerebellar artery (SCA); anterior inferior cerebellar artery (AICA); vertebral artery (VA).