ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate quantitatively the thermal sensation characteristics of the patients with facial palsy and the value of quantitative thermal test (QTT) in prognostication.Methods The QTT threshold of the fore ear and cheek of 30 patients with peripheral facial palsy was tested,their facial nerve conduction velocity was measured,and House-Brackmann facial nerve grading system was used to estimate facial nerve function at 2～3 weeks,a month,two months and half a year post onset.Results It was found that 12 out of 30 patients had abnor- mal QTT threshold value;the majority of them suffered from herpes virus and diabetes.In those with abnormal QTT, 8 were with diabetes mellitus (account for 66.7%),3 with partial shingles (account for 25%),and 1 with positive serum virus infection (account for 8.3%).Those with normal QTT were significantly different from those with abnor- mal QTT,with regard to the House-Brackmann rating scores after 2 and 6 months post onset (P