Visualization of Inferior Alveolar and Lingual Nerve Pathology by 3D Double-Echo Steady-State MRI : Two Case Reports with Literature Review

Injury to the peripheral branches of the trigeminal nerve, particularly the lingual nerve (LN) and the inferior alveolar nerve (IAN), is a rare but serious complication that can occur during oral and maxillofacial surgery. Mandibular third molar surgery, one of the most common surgical procedures in dentistry, is most often associated with such a nerve injury. Proper preoperative radiologic assessment is hence key to avoiding neurosensory dysfunction. In addition to the well-established conventional X-ray-based imaging modalities, such as panoramic radiography and cone-beam computed tomography, radiation-free magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with the recently introduced black-bone MRI sequences offers the possibility to simultaneously visualize osseous structures and neural tissue in the oral cavity with high spatial resolution and excellent soft-tissue contrast. Fortunately, most LN and IAN injuries recover spontaneously within six months. However, permanent damage may cause significant loss of quality of life for affected patients. Therefore, therapy should be initiated early in indicated cases, despite the inconsistency in the literature regarding the therapeutic time window. In this report, we present the visualization of two cases of nerve pathology using 3D double-echo steady-state MRI and evaluate evidence-based decision-making for iatrogenic nerve injury regarding a wait-and-see strategy, conservative drug treatment, or surgical re-intervention.

Medienart:

E-Artikel

Erscheinungsjahr:

2022

Erschienen:

2022

Enthalten in:

Zur Gesamtaufnahme - volume:8

Enthalten in:

Journal of imaging - 8(2022), 3 vom: 17. März

Sprache:

Englisch

Beteiligte Personen:

Al-Haj Husain, Adib [VerfasserIn]
Schönegg, Daphne [VerfasserIn]
Valdec, Silvio [VerfasserIn]
Stadlinger, Bernd [VerfasserIn]
Gander, Thomas [VerfasserIn]
Essig, Harald [VerfasserIn]
Piccirelli, Marco [VerfasserIn]
Winklhofer, Sebastian [VerfasserIn]

Links:

Volltext

Themen:

Inferior alveolar nerve
Journal Article
Lingual nerve
Magnetic resonance imaging
Nerve injury
Oral anatomy
Oral radiology
Oral surgery
Review
Third molar surgery

Anmerkungen:

Date Revised 29.03.2022

published: Electronic

Citation Status PubMed-not-MEDLINE

doi:

10.3390/jimaging8030075

funding:

Förderinstitution / Projekttitel:

PPN (Katalog-ID):

NLM33854934X