[Blood supply to the facial nerve]

At the present time there is no final explanation for the etiology of Bell's palsy. The theory of pathophysiology involving a combined primary and/or secondary ischemia is now well-accepted. As such, it is supposed that there is a dysfunction of the blood vessels which supply the nerve. This is followed by a hyperpermeability and transudation which lead to edema of the nerve and compression of the blood supply. The vicious circle starts and the final result is facial paralysis. The blood supply of the facial nerve has been described previously in the literature, although there have been no experimental investigations on in vivo perfusion of the nerve. In the present study we evaluated the percentage of those vessels perfused among the total blood vessels found in facial nerves of Wistar rats. Animals were examined after i.v.-injections of Evans blue dye, with perfused vessels demonstrable under a fluorescence microscope. Forty-eight hours later, the same tissue section was stained by indirect immunofluorescence and the primary antibody used was directed against myosin of non-muscle sources. This antibody cross-reacted with myosin of vascular endothelial cells and thus allowed identification of any existing blood vessels. More than 90% of the immunostained vessels were labeled with the dye, showing that almost all vessels were perfused.