I read that a certain type of special MRI is required to image any nerve blood vessel compression but I've not been able to find out what type of MRI is required. I had an appointment with my PCP today and he did not know of what the test would be and, to his credit, had not even heard that trigeminal neuralgia had a type two or atypical form which is substantially different symptom wise than the classical trigeminal neuralgia type one. I tried to talk to a neurosurgeon that I had seen before for a different issue to see if he could guide me but none of the 14 neurosurgeons in the practice would speak with me until I spent two hours on the phone being interviewed by somebody who interpreted what I was telling her in note form which she said would be reviewed by a specific doctor to determine if from the notes he determines I am worthy for his time. Ridiculous, especially since I was an established patient with this very doctor. Clearly the person interviewing me had no understanding of medical issues that neurosurgeons work on. She was simply filling out a form. So my question is very simple as I wait to see if the neurosurgeon will see me. Can anyone please tell me what special MRI type that would be clear enough to see a compression and more importantly diagnose whether my chronic pain for the last 12 years is due to trigeminal neuralgia type two, not type one? And if there is a neurosurgeon that can answer this question please don't hesitate to answer in technical terms that I can then share with my PCP. And for the record I've had multiple brain scans that have excluded things like tumors, multiple sclerosis, etc.