title: Facial mimicry after conservative parotidectomy: a three-dimensional optoelectronic study.
abstract: Facial nerve paralysis is one of several possible complications following conservative parotidectomy. To assess three-dimensional facial movements non-invasively in patients with unilateral facial palsy following parotidectomy for benign tumours, the three-dimensional coordinates of 21 soft-tissue facial landmarks were recorded in 32 patients (21 HB I, 5 HB II, 6 HB III-IV; 3 months post-surgery follow-up), and 40 control subjects, during the performance of facial movements (smile, 'surprise', eye closure, single eye closure). For all symmetric animations, control subjects had larger total mobility than patients; mobility progressively decreased in patients with larger clinical grades. For asymmetric eye closures, HB I patients and control subjects had similar total movements, while HB II patients had smaller movements, especially for the paretic side eye closure; smaller total movements were found in HB III-IV patients. The method allowed the quantitative detection of alterations in facial movements. Significant differences between patients and control subjects in the magnitude and asymmetry of movements were found.
authors.affiliation: Functional Anatomy Research Center, Laboratorio di Anatomia Funzionale dell'Apparato Stomatognatico, Laboratorio di Anatomia Funzionale dell'Apparato Locomotore, Dipartimento di Morfologia Umana e Scienze Biomediche Città Studi, Facoltà di Medicina e Chirurgia, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milano, Italy. chiarella.sforza@unimi.it
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sforza
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Guzzo
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mapelli
authors.forename: T M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Ibba
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Scaramellini
authors.forename: V F
authors.initials: VF
authors.lastname: Ferrario
mesh_terms: D000235:Adenolymphoma / Q000601:surgery; D008949:Adenoma, Pleomorphic / Q000601:surgery; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D059925:Anatomic Landmarks / Q000502:physiology; D001767:Blinking / Q000502:physiology; D004581:Electronics; D005133:Eye Movements / Q000502:physiology; D005149:Facial Expression; D005152:Facial Muscles / Q000503:physiopathology; D005158:Facial Paralysis / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000379:methods*; D008046:Lip / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009068:Movement; D009666:Nose / Q000503:physiopathology; D061848:Optical Imaging / Q000379:methods; D010306:Parotid Gland / Q000601:surgery*; D010307:Parotid Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery*; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D012904:Smiling / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult