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Aetiology

Last reviewed dd mmm yyyy. Last edited dd mmm yyyy

Authoring team

  • the causes of facial palsy may be classified in a number of ways:
    • depending on the type of the lesion it may be classified as :
      • unilateral upper motor neurone palsy:
        • vascular disease
        • tumour
      • unilateral lower motor neurone palsy:
        • pontine causes:
          • vascular
          • tumour
          • multiple sclerosis
        • posterior fossa causes:
          • acoustic neuroma
          • meningioma
    • depending on the site of the lesion it may be classified as: (1)
      • extracranial
        • traumatic
          • facial lacerations / blunt forces, newborn paralysis
        • neoplastic
          • parotid tumors,tumors of the external canal and middle ear, facial nerve neurinomas, metastatic lesions
      • intratemporal
        • traumatic
          • fractures of petrous pyramid, penetrating injuries
        • neoplastic
          • glomus tumors, cholesteatoma, facial neurinomas, acoustic neurinomas, squamous cell carcinomas,metastatic
        • infectious
          • herpes zoster oticus ( Ramsey-Hunt syndrome), acute otitis media, chronic otitis media, malignant otitis externa
        • idiopathic
          • Bell's palsy (2)
            • although traditionally defined as idiopathic it is thought to be associated with herpes simplex virus type 1
      • intracranial
        • neoplastic lesions, stroke (2)
    • many systemic diseases also may be associated with facial paralysis:
      • sarcoidosis
      • HIV infection
      • lyme disease
      • Guillain-Barré syndrome (2)
      • multiple sclerosis
    • some influenza vaccines also may cause facial nereve paralysis(2)

Reference:


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