ATYPICAL NEURALGIA, SO CALLED

Abstract

In the Neurosurgical Clinic of the University Hospital my co-workers and I have had an unusual opportunity for the investigation and treatment of major trigeminal neuralgia, having on our records some 1,200 odd cases. This wealth of material has afforded us an intimate knowledge of the characteristic features of the disease, as well as of the many variations from the normal chain of symptoms. Aside from the cases of true trigeminal neuralgia, we have, in addition, records of 245 examples of what, for want of a better term, we have called atypical neuralgias. As a class, the victims of these irregular or atypical types of neuralgia are a pathetic lot. They often date their discomforts back many years, and they insist that the pain is unbearable and difficult of description; yet they seldom show any evidence of the intense suffering of which they complain. We have been absolutely nonplussed in