Facial nerve palsy in children: A retrospective study of 124 cases

To report the causes and clinical evaluation of children with facial nerve palsy (FNP) admitted to an affiliated university hospital during a 5-year period (2011-2015).

A total of 124 children were retrospectively categorised into two groups: idiopathic Bell's palsy (109 patients) and the second group into other FNP aetiologies (15 patients). All children received a standardised work-up and follow-up. Therapy consisted of steroid administration associated with antiviral treatment when a viral infection was suspected.

All children of the first group had a full recovery under oral steroids within 2 months of treatment. From the second group, seven children (46%) had a viral infection based on serological findings, two of them were positive for neurotropic herpes viruses, and one had Ramsay Hunt syndrome; six children with infectious FNP had recurrent FNP on the ipsilateral or contralateral side. Five patients had FNP as a complication of acute otitis media; three of them (60%) had partial or full recovery postoperatively. One child developed FNP following temporal bone trauma that had an uneventful recovery with conservative treatment. One child suffered from Melkersson-Rosenthal syndrome, and another child presented with FNP associated with unilateral hemiparesis following an ischaemic cerebral infarct.

Facial palsy in children is a manifestation of a heterogeneous group of causes. The most common aetiology of FNP in children in our study was idiopathic (Bell's palsy), followed by infective causes, such as acute otitis media and neurotropic herpes viruses. Therefore, treatment should be adapted to each patient depending on the underlying disease and severity of FNP.