title: [Petrous plasmacytoma revealed by a painful peripheral facial palsy].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The classical hypothesis of Bell's palsy, tempting in cases of peripheral facial palsy of rapid onset, must nevertheless be evoked with caution particularly if an intense pain is present, which should lead to search for a tumor of the skull base, especially the petrous bone.
  
  
  METHODS
  A 43-year-old man presented a peripheral facial palsy of rapidly progressive onset. A petrous bone tumor was diagnosed on the CT scan, which revealed an aspect of a glomic tumor or a metastatic lesion. The final histological diagnosis was plasmacytoma.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This type of tumor has been rarely reported in this location. The radiological features are not specific at all, underlying the importance of searching for some associated signs such as a monoclonal protein and performing a histological examination when the firm diagnosis of a systemic disease like multiple myeloma has not been possible.
authors.affiliation: Service de Neurologie, Centre Hospitalier de Meaux, 6-8 rue Saint-Fiacre, 77104 Meaux cedex, France. c-cret@ch-meaux.fr
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lagarde
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cret
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Karlin
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ameri
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D005158:Facial Paralysis / Q000150:complications / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D010579:Petrous Bone / Q000473:pathology*; D010954:Plasmacytoma / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D012888:Skull Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed