A Case of Sjögren's Syndrome Associated With Trigeminal Neuropathy and Enhancement of the Mandibular Nerve at the Foramen Ovale: A Case Report and a Review of the Differential Diagnosis and Mechanisms of the Disease

We describe a case of Sjögren's syndrome-associated trigeminal neuropathy with mandibular nerve enhancement at the foramen ovale and Gasserian ganglion (Meckel's cave) in a patient with a prior history of breast cancer. We also explore the differential diagnosis of trigeminal neuropathy associated with mandibular nerve involvement at the foramen ovale and exclude other diseases such as Sjögren's syndrome or perineurial invasion as a result of various carcinomas. We emphasize the importance of an investigative triad of searching for a local head-and-neck malignancy that may metastasize by perineural spread or invasion, excluding a distant malignancy or paraneoplastic phenomenon and ruling out an autoimmune etiology such as Sjögren's syndrome. In the process, we briefly outline the basic immunopathologic processes.