title: Diverse etiologies of facial paralysis in children.
abstract: Facial paralysis (FP) in children is most often idiopathic, however, many diverse and identifiable etiologies exist. Twenty-five cases of children admitted consecutively to the Children's National Medical Center over 8.5 years for the evaluation of FP were reviewed retrospectively. In 21 (84%) of the patients the FP was discovered to be secondary to a specific etiology or associated with a recognizable syndrome. In 7 cases, the FP was an initial manifestation of a serious underlying disorder. Causes of the FP in this series include: otitis media, mastoiditis, temporal lobe abscess, osteopetrosis, both blunt and penetrating trauma, iatrogenic surgical injury, facial burns, cerebellar astrocytoma, leukemia rhabdomyosarcoma, intracerebral arteriovenous malformation, Goldenhar syndrome, and Melkersson-Rosenthal syndrome. Four (16%) patients were diagnosed as having Bell's palsy. Methods of management, including the use of electrodiagnostic testing are described.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Children's National Medical Center, Washington, D.C. 20010.
authors.forename: K M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Grundfast
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Guarisco
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Thomsen
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Koch
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001424:Bacterial Infections; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004576:Electromyography; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D005154:Facial Nerve / Q000503:physiopathology; D020220:Facial Nerve Injuries; D005158:Facial Paralysis / Q000151:congenital / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000150:complications; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D009431:Neural Conduction / Q000502:physiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D009435:Synaptic Transmission / Q000502:physiology