facial nerve disorder

Etiology

• unilateral cranial nerve VII weakness
  • idiopathic: Bell's palsy
  • sarcoid & other granulomatous disorders
  • infection
    • leprosy: especially with paralysis of upper face
    • otitis media
    • Lyme disease
    • HIV
    • Herpes Zoster (Ramsay Hunt syndrome)
  • neoplasms, mass effect
  • trauma
  • cardiofacial syndrome:
    • lower lip or complete facial palsy
  • familial
  • CNS lesions
• bilateral cranial nerve VII weakness (0.3% -2%)
  • 2nd facial nerve paresis occuring within 30 days of 1st
  • cranial nerve VII lesions
    • Melkersson syndrome
    • Mobius syndrome
    • Guillain-Barre syndrome variant
    • leprosy
    • Tangier disease
    • HIV infection: may occur before seroconversion
    • Lyme disease
  • other peripheral causes
    • motor neuron disorders
    • myasthenia gravis
    • myopathies
• central cranial nerve VII lesions
  • pyramidal: lower face paralysis with voluntary motion
  • emotional: face paralysis with emotion
  • dorsolateral pons lesion
    • superior cerebellar artery infarction
      • unilateral
      • with deafness, Horner's syndrome, or anhidrosis
  • extrapyramidal disorders
    • bilateral
    • parkinsonism
• hemifacial spasm

Clinical manifestations

• twitching or spasms
• paralysis

More general terms

• peripheral nerve disease; peripheral neuropathy

More specific terms

• Bell's palsy; cranial nerve 7 palsy; facial nerve palsy