Lesiones de múltiples nervios craneales luego de traumatismo craneal cerrado: reporte de caso y revisión del tema / Multiple cranial nerve injuries following closed head trauma: case report and review

La lesión de los nervios craneales es un acompañamiento común de un trauma en la cabeza. Lesiones de los nervios craneales asociados con la lesión cerrada de la cabeza ha sido encontrado para ser asociado con una mayor gravedad de la lesión. Los objetivos de este estudio son documentar la incidencia de lesiones de los nervios craneales en lesiones en la cabeza, que se correlaciona con la incidencia de los hallazgos radiológicos, para evaluar el tiempo de recuperación con respecto a los signos y síntomas en la presentación inicial. Se presenta un caso de un varón de 51 años de edad, con lesiones nerviosas del segundo, sexto, séptimo, octavo, noveno y décimo después de una lesión grave en la cabeza. Lo admitieron a la víctima con un historial de conducir una motocicleta utilizando un casco y con una caída a alta velocidad. Su Resonancia Magnética (RM) presenta contusión en el tronco cerebral y su tomografía computarizada (TC) simple mostró pequeña hemorragia a la derecha del tronco cerebral y el paciente fue tratado de forma conservadora. Por otra parte, si se detectan múltiples lesiones de los nervios craneales hay una necesidad de evaluar más a fondo la lesión del tronco cerebral por RM con el fin de evaluar mejor el tronco cerebral. La mayoría de las lesiones de los nervios craneales pueden recibir tratamento conservador, aunque algunos autores indican intervención quirúrgica temprana para el tratamiento de la parálisis facial con fractura a través del canal facial.

Injury to the cranial nerves is a common accompaniment of head trauma. Cranial nerve injuries associated with closed head trauma has been found to be associated with injuries of a higher severity. The incidence of cranial nerve injury in head trauma varies in the literature, ranging from 5 to 23 percent. The objectives of this study are: to document the incidence of cranial nerve injuries in head trauma; to correlate the incidence with radiological findings and to assess recovery time according with signs and symptoms at initial presentation. We report a case of a 51-year-old male having second, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth nerve injuries after severe head trauma. He was admitted after an accident with a history of riding a motorcycle wearing a helmet and falling at high speed. Study by Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) of this case presented stem contusion and a plain Computerized Tomography (CT) showed small hemorrhage on the right of the brain stem. The patient was managed conservatively. Multiple cranial nerve palsies after head injury may not carry a bad prognosis as previously thought, and may be reversible. Moreover, if multiple cranial nerve injuries are detected, a better evaluation of the stem brain is needed by MRI in order to evaluate possible lesions in this site. The majority of the cranial nerve injuries are treated conservatively, although some authors indicate early surgical intervention to treat facial palsy with fracture through the facial canal.

Paralisia facial: análise epidemiológica em hospital de reabilitação / Facial paralysis: epidemiological analysis in a rehabilitation hospital

INTRODUÇÃO: A paralisia facial é a perda temporária ou permanente dos movimentos da mímica facial em decorrência do acometimento do nervo facial. São vários os fatores que influenciam a evolução das lesões do nervo facial. Este estudo teve como objetivo avaliar os aspectos epidemiológicos e a frequência de sequelas após paralisia facial em um serviço de reabilitação. MÉTODO: Estudo retrospectivo dos pacientes com paralisia facial atendidos em hospital de reabilitação no período de janeiro de 2001 a janeiro de 2005. As sequelas foram avaliadas quanto a sexo, idade, etiologia, graduação funcional conforme a escala de House-Brackmann, tempo de evolução, seguimento e intervenções cirúrgicas. Para realização da análise estatística utilizou-se o programa Epi-Info versão 3.2.2. RESULTADOS: Foram admitidos para programa de reabilitação 285 pacientes portadores de paralisia facial, sendo 157 do sexo masculino e 128 do feminino. Todos os pacientes se submeteram a programa de reabilitação e 29 (10,2 por cento), a cirurgia. Dentre os pacientes analisados, 80 por cento foram admitidos a partir da terceira semana do surgimento da paralisia, e 121 (42,5 por cento) tiveram recuperação gradual em 3 meses, espontaneamente, com tratamento clínico ou fisioterápico. Por outro lado, 119 (41,8 por cento) pacientes permaneceram com paralisia facial parcial ou completa e irreversível. CONCLUSÕES: Os casos admitidos foram mais frequentes em pacientes com menos de 20 anos de idade, com causas diversas e quando admitidos em graus menores segundo a escala de House-Brackmann, pois muitos deles se associavam a déficits neurológicos consequentes a paralisia facial de origem central ou congênita.

BACKGROUND: Facial paralysis is characterized by permanent or temporary loss of facial expression due to facial nerve injury. Several factors influence the development of facial nerve lesions. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the epidemiological aspects and incidence of sequelae after facial paralysis at a rehabilitation institution. METHODS: We performed a retrospective study of facial paralysis patients admitted to a rehabilitation hospital between January 2001 and January 2005. Sequelae were analyzed according to gender, age, etiology, functional status as measured by the House-Brackmann scale, evaluation time, follow-up, and surgical procedures. Statistical analyses were performed with Epi-info 3.2.2 software. RESULTS: A total of 285 facial paralysis patients, 157 male and 128 female, were admitted for a rehabilitation program. All subjects followed a rehabilitation program, and 29 (10.2 percent) underwent surgery; 80 percent were admitted during the 3rd week of the paralysis or later, and 121 (42.5 percent) showed gradual recovery after 3 months, either spontaneously or after clinical or physical therapies. Nevertheless, 119 (41.8 percent) sustained irreversible partial or complete facial paralysis. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of facial paralysis was greater among patients younger than 20 years. Among these patients, paralysis had different causes, and these patients were admitted with lower House-Brackmann grades. Most cases were associated with neurological deficits leading to facial paralysis of central or congenital origin.

Hypoglossal-facial anastomosis, tricks and trade

Total removal of difficult tumours at the skull base left behind a traumatized facial nerve previously aggressed by the tumour. Reanimation of the nerve was mandatory in order to recover functional and cosmetic results. Despite an additional XII[th] cranial nerve morbidity, hypoglossal-facial nerve anastomosis was still a gold standard to reach this goal. The authors present their experience in managing 11 cases of facial nerve reanimation after skull base tumour resection by using the descending branch of the hypoglossal nerve as axon donator for direct facial anastomosis. Outcome of facial reanimation according to House-Brackmann classification was good [grade I, II and III] in 5 cases, mild [grade IV] in 3 cases and bad [grade IV and V] in 3 cases. Hemi tongue atrophy occurred in none of our patients. Hypoglossal-facial nerve anastomosis using the descending branch of the XII[th] cranial nerve is an effective procedure to reanimate the facial nerve without additional morbidity. Early reanimation of the facial nerve is the key to offer resumption of normal life for these patients who had already undergone a major neurosurgical procedure