Bilateral facial paralysis is a rare clinical entity. It is also diagnostic challenge which, unlike unilateral facial paralysis, it is can be difficult to recognize because of a lack of facial asymmetry. A 22 year-old man referred for neurological evaluation because of bilateral facial paralysis (House-Brackmann grade V). He has initially presented unconsciousness after he sustained closed head...

Pediatric facial nerve palsy (FNP) can result from a variety of etiologies including Lyme disease, varicella, primary gingivostomatitis, herpes zoster oticus (Ramsay Hunt syndrome), coxsackievirus, trauma, otitis media, HIV, diseases causing tumors or demyelinations, compressions, and possibly Epstein Barr virus. Lyme disease has been implicated as the cause of over 50% of the FNPs in children....

Wegener’s granulomatosis is an incurable vasculitis that can be life-threatening when end-organ damage occurs. Symptoms most commonly affect the nose, lungs, and kidneys. We present a case study of a 35-year-old male who presented with sequential bilateral otitis media, progressive mixed hearing loss, tinnitus, otalgia, otorrhea, and, later, bilateral facial nerve paralysis despite aggressive a...

Introduction: Intraparotid neurofibromas of the facial nerve are extremely rare and mostly associated with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1). Case Report: This is a case of a healthy 40-year-old man, which underwent surgery for a preoperatively diagnosed benign parotid gland lesion. After identification of the facial nerve main trunk, a single large mass (6 x 3 cm) incorporating the upper nerve d...

Introduction. Bilateral facial nerve palsy (FNP) is a rare condition, representing less than 2% of all cases of FNP. Majority of these patients have underlying medical conditions, ranging from neurologic, infectious, neoplastic, traumatic, or metabolic disorders. Objective. The differential diagnosis of its causes is extensive and hence can present as a diagnostic challenge. Emergency physician...

PURPOSE To describe the association between entropion and pediatric facial nerve paralysis in the pediatric population. METHODS A retrospective case series was collected from 5 pediatric patients who required surgical correction for symptomatic entropion with a history of facial nerve palsy. RESULTS All 5 patients presented with epiphora and punctate keratopathy. Following surgical correcti...

Facial nerve paralysis because of penetrating trauma through the external auditory canal is extremely rare, with a paucity of published literature. The objective of this study is to review the literature on transtympanic facial nerve paralysis and increase physician awareness of this uncommon injury through discussion of its clinical presentation, management and prognosis. We also aim to improv...

In order to investigate the mechanism of Bell's palsy, we developed an animal model of facial nerve paralysis induced by the reactivation of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1). Eight weeks after recovery from facial nerve paralysis caused by inoculation with HSV-1, the mice were treated with auricular skin scratch at the site of the previous inoculation, or with intraperitoneal injection of an...

Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) is the most common cause of acute flaccid paralysis worldwide both in adult and pediatric population. Although flaccid paralysis is the hallmark of this disease, there are some rare variants which may be easily missed unless suspected. Here, we present a very rare variant of GBS - acute bulbar palsy plus syndrome in a pediatric patient. A 13-year-old female child p...