Using data on patients hospitalized at the Massachusetts General Hospital, the sex ratio for trigeminal neuralgia was estimated to be 1.17 females: males. To investigate possible risk factors for this disease, 526 patients and 528 controls from two Boston neurosurgical clinics were studied. Information was gathered from clinic records, mail questionnaires and telephone calls. Probable risk factors are non-Jewish religion and birth in the United States. Other factors associated with the disease in these data but which need further investigation before they are accepted as risk factors are nonsmoking, nondrinking and presence of tonsils.
