[Facial diplegias during pregnancy].
BACKGROUND
Facial diplegia is a rare event, most commonly of unknown origin. We report the case of a woman who presented bilateral Bell's palsy a few days after a normal delivery.


METHODS
Five days after the delivery of gemellary pregnancy, a 34-year old woman developed complete bilateral facial palsy. No treatment was initially prescribed. She was first seen in our department two weeks after the onset of her illness. The diagnostic work-up was negative and we considered that our patient had bilateral Bell's palsy. Treatment with methylprednisolone and intravenous acyclovir, initiated since admission, have had very limited effect.


CONCLUSIONS
As has already been shown for facial palsy, idiopathic facial diplegia, although exceptional, seems to be more frequent during the last trimester of pregnancy and in the early puerperium. Seven cases have been reported in the literature over the last 30 years. We discuss here the pathophysiology.
Mari
I
I
Service de Médecine Interne V, Hôpital Louis Mourier, Colombes.
Pouchot
J
J
Grasland
A
A
Vinceneux
P
P
D000208:Acute Disease; D000212:Acyclovir / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000328:Adult; D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D020330:Bell Palsy / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008775:Methylprednisolone / Q000627:therapeutic use; D011247:Pregnancy; D011644:Puerperal Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D013129:Spinal Puncture; D014427:Twins
D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents; D000998:Antiviral Agents; D000212:Acyclovir; D008775:Methylprednisolone
Diplégies faciales au cours de la grossesse.