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Published on: March 1, 2015
Outcomes of facial palsy in children
Wei-Hsun Shih1, Fen-Yu Tseng, Te-Huei Yeh
1Department of Otolaryngology, National Taiwan University Hospital and National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan.
Insights
Facial palsy in children, often Bell's palsy, typically resolves within 3 months. Serious underlying conditions require thorough investigation, as prednisolone offers no significant benefit for pediatric Bell's palsy.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Neurology
- Otolaryngology
- Neurology
Background:
- Facial palsy in children can indicate serious underlying conditions like tumors or congenital anomalies.
- Prompt diagnosis and differential diagnosis are crucial for effective management.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze the causes, treatments, and outcomes of facial palsy in pediatric patients.
- To evaluate the efficacy of prednisolone in treating Bell's palsy in children.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective chart review of pediatric patients (under 15 years) diagnosed with facial palsy between 1996 and 2002.
- Analysis of etiological factors, treatment interventions, and patient recovery rates.
Main Results:
- Bell's palsy was the most common cause (78.6%), followed by neoplastic (7.1%), head injury (5.4%), congenital (5.4%), and infectious (3.6%) causes.
- No significant difference in recovery rates was observed for Bell's palsy patients treated with prednisolone versus those not treated.
- Treatment timing (within or after 1 week) did not impact recovery rates in Bell's palsy cases.
Conclusions:
- While Bell's palsy has a good prognosis in children, other causes like tumors necessitate careful investigation.
- Prednisolone does not significantly alter the outcome for pediatric Bell's palsy.
- Effective management hinges on thorough diagnostic evaluation to rule out severe underlying pathologies.
Conclusions:
Facial palsy in children might be an alarming sign of serious underlying disease such as tumor, systemic disease or congenital anomalies and the recovery is poor in those cases. Therefore, careful investigation and differential diagnosis are essential in children. Prednisolone does not make a significant difference in the outcome in the treatment of children with Bell's palsy. The prognosis of Bell's palsy in the pediatric group is good; patients usually recover within 3 months.
Objectives:
To review and analyze the etiology, management, and outcome of facial palsy in children.
Patients And Methods:
Using a retrospective chart review, patients under the age of 15 years with a diagnosis of facial palsy were collected from 1996 to 2002.
Results:
A total of 56 cases (29 male, 27 female) with a mean age of 6.9±4.5 years were included in this analysis. Causes of facial palsy were Bell's palsy (44 patients, 78.6%), neoplastic (4 patients, 7.1%), head injury (3 patients, 5.4%), congenital (3 patients, 5.4%), or infectious (2 patients, 3.6%). In Bell's palsy there was no significant difference in the recovery rate between the groups with or without prednisolone treatment and between the groups that received medication within 1 week of syndrome onset or after more than 1 week.
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