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Updated: May 8, 2026

Single-stage Dynamic Reanimation of the Smile in Irreversible Facial Paralysis by Free Functional Muscle Transfer
Published on: March 1, 2015
Duplicated facial nerve trunk with a first branchial cleft cyst
Drew Hinson1, Perry Poteet, Charles Bower
1Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, the University of Arkansas College of Medicine, Arkansas Children's Hospital, Little Rock, Arkansas, U.S.A.
Objectives/Hypothesis:
First branchial cleft anomalies are rare and their various anatomical relationships to the facial nerve have been described. We encountered a 15-year-old female with a type II first branchial cleft cyst presenting as a right neck mass that we found during surgical excision to transverse two main facial nerve trunks. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of a first branchial cleft anomaly in conjunction with a duplicated facial nerve trunk.
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