[A case of facial diplegia in associated with reactivation of herpes simplex virus type I].
A 27-year-old Japanese man developed right peripheral facial palsy after suffering from a cold and low-grade fever for 7 days. Left peripheral palsy developed 4 days later. When he visited our hospital 3 days after that, neurological examination revealed no abnormalities except peripheral facial diplegia. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was normal on admission and on hospital day 12. On admission, the patient had a transient increase of serum titers of HSV type I IgM (fluorescence assay). Then, serum titers of HSV type I IgG (ELISA) continuously increased. A diagnosis of peripheral facial diplegia due to reactivation of HSV type I was made clinically and serologically. Steroid pulse therapy was performed and his facial diplegia disappeared completely after 2 weeks. This case may support the hypothesis of virus etiology of Bell's palsy, and HSV type I should be considered as one of the possible causes of facial diplegia.
Tsukaguchi
M
M
Third Department of Internal Medicine, Kagawa Medical School.
Yamada
A
A
Sasaki
I
I
Deguchi
K
K
Takeuchi
H
H
D000328:Adult; D005158:Facial Paralysis / Q000209:etiology*; D006561:Herpes Simplex / Q000150:complications*; D018259:Herpesvirus 1, Human / Q000254:growth & development; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D014775:Virus Activation