Non-traumatic congenital facial nerve paralysis; electroneurophysiologic evaluation of four cases

Non-traumatic congenital facial paralysis is frequently due to intrauterine hypoplasia of the facial nerve and usually appears as a component of a syndrome. The experience about this problem is limited due to its rare occurrence and sometimes differential diagnosis of congenital facial paralysis of developmental origin from an acquired one in children and infants needs much effort. Controversy remains regarding the site of the lesion. Total facial paralysis is uncommon and inherited transmission has been reported on some occasion. Four children with congenital facial paralysis, whose family history is noncontributory, are presented in this report and the related literature is reviewed.