Tic Douloureux of the Nervus Intermedius

As a result of his observations of herpes, plus reports of sensory change and pain accompanying the peripheral type of facial palsy, Hunt1first described what he called neuralgia. He drew a close parallel between the sensory and motor systems of the fifth and seventh cranial nerves and described a geniculate zone affected by pain or herpes, stating that in this condition the primary disorder was in the ganglion. He described this so-called geniculate zone as lying within a cone shaped area represented by the tympanic membrane, the walls of the auditory canal, the external meatus, the concha, the tragus, the antitragus and the antihelix. He said, however, that the ninth and tenth cranial nerves were also represented in this area. In 1909 Clark and Taylor2reported a case of tic douloureux of the sensory filaments of the facial nerve: A woman aged 28 had for