Trigeminal Neuralgia and Herpesvirus

In his editorial entitled “Tic Douloureux: Etiology, refined treatment” (N Engl J Med 288:680–681, 1973) Wepsic apparently discards the possibility of a herpetic basis for trigeminal neuralgia but for what seems to be the wrong reason. He places emphasis on the absence of herpes virions in Gasserian ganglions of normal and tic-afflicted patients. However, by their procedures and results Baringer and Swoveland1 offer, in the same issue of the Journal, the probable reason for the negative findings of others: a period in vitro is necessary for the development of overt evidence of the virus in this.