Incidence, clinical features and prognosis of Bell's palsy in children / 소아과

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: Bell's palsy is defined as an idiopathic facial nerve paralysis of sudden onset. In spite of intensive clinical and experimental investigation, there is still uncertainty in the incidence, etiology, and preferred mode of treatment in children.The objective of this study was to analyze clinical outcome and prognosis of children with Bell' palsy. METHODS: We analyzed 61 cases of Bell's palsy diagnosed at the Department of Wonkwang University Hospital from January 1998 to July 2006. The inclusion criteria were any children with acute isolated unilateral lower motor neuron type of facial nerve palsy. The clinical findings and investigations were reviewed including age, sex, affected site, seasonal incidence and result of steroid treatment. Chi-square and Fisher's exact test was used to compare clinical outcome between duration of complete recovery and age. RESULTS: There was no difference in incidence according to sex or age. Incidence was higher in summer and winter. There was no difference in complete recovery rate and duration between steroid treated group and control group. In the group of children younger than 6 years, duration of complete recovery was shorter than older children. CONCLUSION: We found increasing the incidence of Bell's palsy in summer and winter. Children younger than 6 years had shorter duration in complete recovery.