Post-traumatic paralytic syndromes of the jugular and condylar foramina

The fact that neoplasms of the cranial base or metastases of nasopharyngeal tumors may cause palsy of nerves which pass through the jugular and anterior condylar foramina has been well documented. On the other hand, very little has been reported about the traumatic causes of these diseases, probably because they are often underestimated or misdiagnosed. In this paper, the Authors report four cases of palsy of the last four cranial nerves caused by various kinds of trauma: glossopharyngeal thermo-rhizotomy, bullet wound, closed cranial trauma, neck surgery. The main symptom immediately following a lesion is mechanical dysphagia which causes inhalation of food and saliva and may sometimes require surgery, such as tracheotomy or cricopharyngeal myotomy. The most lasting symptom is dysphonia, which can only be treated by speech therapy. Because of the importance of these damaged functions, the above symptoms must be studied more thoroughly, also keeping in mind the modern techniques of surgical and non-surgical speech rehabilitation.