ABSTRACT
Facial nerve paralysis is one of several possible complications following conservative parotidectomy. To assess three-dimensional facial movements non-invasively in patients with unilateral facial palsy following parotidectomy for benign tumours, the three-dimensional coordinates of 21 soft-tissue facial landmarks were recorded in 32 patients (21 HB I, 5 HB II, 6 HB III-IV; 3 months post-surgery follow-up), and 40 control subjects, during the performance of facial movements (smile, 'surprise', eye closure, single eye closure). For all symmetric animations, control subjects had larger total mobility than patients; mobility progressively decreased in patients with larger clinical grades. For asymmetric eye closures, HB I patients and control subjects had similar total movements, while HB II patients had smaller movements, especially for the paretic side eye closure; smaller total movements were found in HB III-IV patients. The method allowed the quantitative detection of alterations in facial movements. Significant differences between patients and control subjects in the magnitude and asymmetry of movements were found.
Subject(s)
Facial Expression , Facial Paralysis/physiopathology , Imaging, Three-Dimensional/methods , Parotid Gland/surgery , Parotid Neoplasms/surgery , Adenolymphoma/surgery , Adenoma, Pleomorphic/surgery , Adult , Aged , Anatomic Landmarks/physiology , Blinking/physiology , Electronics , Eye Movements/physiology , Facial Muscles/physiopathology , Facial Paralysis/etiology , Female , Follow-Up Studies , Humans , Lip/physiopathology , Male , Middle Aged , Movement , Nose/physiopathology , Optical Imaging/methods , Postoperative Complications , Smiling/physiology , Young AdultABSTRACT
To assess sex- and age-related characteristics in standardized facial movements, 40 healthy adults (20 men, 20 women; aged 20-50 years) performed seven standardized facial movements (maximum smile; free smile; "surprise" with closed mouth; "surprise" with open mouth; eye closure; right- and left-side eye closures). The three-dimensional coordinates of 21 soft tissue facial landmarks were recorded by a motion analyser, their movements computed, and asymmetry indices calculated. Within each movement, total facial mobility was independent from sex and age (analysis of variance, p>0.05). Asymmetry indices of the eyes and mouth were similar in both sexes (p>0.05). Age significantly influenced eye and mouth asymmetries of the right-side eye closure, and eye asymmetry of the surprise movement. On average, the asymmetry indices of the symmetric movements were always lower than 8%, and most did not deviate from the expected value of 0 (Student's t). Larger asymmetries were found for the asymmetric eye closures (eyes, up to 50%, p<0.05; mouth, up to 30%, p<0.05 only in the 20-30-year-old subjects). In conclusion, sex and age had a limited influence on total facial motion and asymmetry in normal adult men and women.
