title: Facial Diplegia with Paresthesia: An Uncommon Variant of Guillain-Barre Syndrome.
abstract: Facial nerve palsy (FNP) is a common medical problem and can be unilateral or bilateral. Unilateral facial palsy has an incidence of 25 per 100,000 population and most of them are idiopathic. However, facial diplegia or bilateral facial nerve palsy (B-FNP) is rare with an incidence of just 1 per 5,000,000 population and only 20 percent cases are idiopathic. Facial diplegia is said to be simultaneous if the other side is affected within 30 days of involvement of first side. Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS) is a common cause of facial diplegia and almost half of these patients have facial nerve involvement during their illness. Facial Diplegia with Paresthesias (FDP) is a rare localized variant of GBS which is characterized by simultaneous facial diplegia, distal paresthesias and minimal or no motor weakness. We had a patient who presented with simultaneous weakness of bilateral facial nerve and paresthesias. A diagnosis of GBS was made after diligent clinical examination and relevant investigations. Patient responded to IVIG therapy and symptoms resolved within two weeks of therapy.
authors.affiliation: Senior Resident, Department of Medicine, PGIMER & Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital , New Delhi, India .
authors.forename: Prabhat
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.affiliation: Postgraduate Resident, Department of Medicine, PGIMER & Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital , New Delhi, India .
authors.forename: Riyaz
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Charaniya
authors.affiliation: Postgraduate Resident, Department of Medicine, PGIMER & Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital , New Delhi, India .
authors.forename: Anish
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bahl
authors.affiliation: Postgraduate Resident, Department of Medicine, PGIMER & Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital , New Delhi, India .
authors.forename: Anindya
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ghosh
authors.affiliation: Postgraduate Resident, Department of Medicine, PGIMER & Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital , New Delhi, India .
authors.forename: Juhi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dixit
keywords: Bell’s palsy; Brighton criteria; Polyneuropathy; Sarcoidosis