title: Bell's Palsy: Clinical Analysis of 372 Cases and Review of Related Literature.
abstract: To analyze some clinical and epidemiologic aspects of Bell's palsy (BP) and to develop relevant correlations between existing data in literature and those obtained in this research.
  
  
  
  From January 2012 to December 2014, 372 consecutive patients diagnosed with BP were studied retrospectively. We reviewed the patients' data including gender, age, occupation, clinical manifestations, comorbid disease, and the rate of recurrence.
  
  
  
  The highest incidence was identified in those between 39 and 50 years of age. BP was more frequent in warm seasons (spring and summer) with its incidence reaching a peak value in September. The seasonal incidence of BP was significantly higher in summer (p < 0.05). In addition, diabetes mellitus was the most common accompanying comorbid condition.
  
  
  
  The peak age when BP showed up was in the fourth decade of life and 55.1% of patients belonged to the male gender. BP has been observed to have the highest incidence during warm seasons (spring and summer). Diabetes mellitus was the most common comorbid condition accompanying BP. In addition, a recurrence was more likely to occur in the first 1.5 years after its first incidence.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Xinhua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Hua
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Yin-da
authors.initials: YD
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Jin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Xu-Hui
authors.initials: XH
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Shi-Ting
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D020330:Bell Palsy / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012008:Recurrence; D012189:Retrospective Studies