Facial palsy as a manifestation of COVID-19: A systematic review of cases.
Health Sci Rep
; 5(6): e887, 2022 Nov.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-2094193
ABSTRACT
Background and Aims:
Facial palsy is a rare complication of the COVID-19 infection. Herein, we conducted a systematic review of all published cases of facial palsy post-COVID-19 infection in an attempt to educate the general population and medical practitioners regarding the likely occurrence of facial palsy in COVID-19 patients, its detection, effective treatment plan, and prognosis of the condition.Methods:
We searched PubMed, Google Scholar, and Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) from December 1, 2019 to September 21, 2021.Results:
We included 49 studies bearing accounts of 75 cases who had facial palsy. The mean age of patients was 42.9 ± 19.59 years, with a male-to-female ratio of 87. The majority of the cases were reported from Brazil (n = 14), USA (n = 9), Turkey (n = 9), and Spain (n = 9). Noticeably, 30.14% of COVID-19 patients were diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome. In total, 22.97% of patients complained of bilateral facial paralysis (n = 17), whereas ipsilateral paralysis was observed in 77.03% (n = 57). These were common complaints of Lagophthalmos, otalgia, facial drooping, dysarthria, and compromised forehead wrinkling. The treatment regimen mainly included the use of corticosteroids (n = 51) (69.86%), antivirals (n = 23) (31.51%), IVIG (n = 18) (24.66%), antibiotics (n = 13) (17.81%), antiretroviral (n = 9) (12.33%), and antimalarial (n = 8) (10.96%) medications. In all, 35.62% of patients (n = 26) adhered to a combination of antiviral and corticosteroid-based therapy. Positive treatment outcomes were observed in 83.58% (n = 56) of cases. In contrast, 10 patients (14.93%) showed nonsignificant recovery, out of which 3 (4.48%) died from the disease.Conclusion:
The association of facial palsy with COVID-19 is controversial and therefore requires further investigation and published work to confirm a causal relationship. However, physicians should not overlook the likelihood of facial palsy post-COVID-19 infection and treat it accordingly.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Type of study:
Prognostic study
/
Reviews
/
Systematic review/Meta Analysis
Topics:
Long Covid
Language:
English
Journal:
Health Sci Rep
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
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