Trigeminal Neuralgia

Harris (1936) observed 9 cases in 3 generations. Allan (1938) described the condition in a 32-year-old man, his maternal uncle and his maternal grandmother. Argenta (1959) noted the disorder in 3 sibs, 2 of whom were twins. Auld and Buermann (1965) observed a family with 6 out of 7 sibs affected; no comment on parental consanguinity was made. I studied a family (K.L., 945011) in which 5 persons in 4 sibships and 3 generations were affected. There were 2 instances of apparent lack of penetrance ('skipped generations'). Herzberg (1980) reported 4 cases in 3 generations. Kirkpatrick (1989) described classic trigeminal neuralgia in 3 sisters who had a paternal aunt who may have also been affected.