title: Nasal muscle F-wave for peri- and intraoperative diagnosis of facial nerve function.
abstract: A new method for recording F-waves from facial muscles in order to assess the function of the intracranial and intracanalicular portion of the facial nerve peri- and intraoperatively has been developed: Direct (M) and F-responses were obtained from the nasal muscle after stimulation of the zygomatic branch of the facial nerve of healthy volunteers. We examined a number of patients with likely or obvious dysfunction of the facial nerve, mostly suffering from cerebellopontine angle (CPA) tumors. F-wave findings were compared to blink reflex and transcranial magnetoelectric evoked potential recordings, the latter obtained from the nasal muscle. The F-wave turned out to be a sensitive parameter for the diagnosis of facial nerve dysfunction. The feasibility of intraoperative nasal muscle F-wave recording and its prognostic value are demonstrated. The nasal muscle F-wave is considered to be a valid parameter for the diagnosis of clinically imperceptible facial nerve lesions, especially of its intracranial portion.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, University of Cologne, Germany.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wedekind
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Klug
mesh_terms: D001927:Brain Diseases / Q000601:surgery; D002528:Cerebellar Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery; D002530:Cerebellopontine Angle / Q000601:surgery*; D005152:Facial Muscles / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005155:Facial Nerve Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D016343:Monitoring, Intraoperative; D009431:Neural Conduction; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D012887:Skull Fractures / Q000601:surgery