Unilateral Lower Motor Neuron Research Articles

From WEMINO To WEBINO With Unilateral LMN Facial Palsy (P5-4.002)

<h3>Objective:</h3> To describe a case of progression from apparent trochlear nerve palsy, to wall-eyed monocular internuclear ophthalmoplegia (WEMINO), to wall-eyed bilateral internuclear ophthalmoplegia (WEBINO) with unilateral lower motor neuron (LMN) facial palsy. <h3>Background:</h3> Various descriptions of INO with cranial nerve palsies are in the literature, but we report a patient with a remarkably instructive stepwise evolution. <h3>Design/Methods:</h3> Review of records of a patient with diplopia at our institution. <h3>Results:</h3> A 42-year-old woman presented acutely with oblique binocular diplopia worsening on right gaze and left head tilt, with left hypertropia. Trochlear nerve palsy was suspected but contrasted MRI brain with orbits, and initial CSF testing were unrevealing. On day 3, the hypertropia partly improved but she developed left eye adduction deficit. Given the fluctuation, myasthenia gravis was considered high in the differential diagnosis while test results were awaited. On day 7, she developed LMN left facial palsy and bilateral adduction deficit with abducting eye nystagmus, leading to the realization that a single progressing lesion in the pontine tegmentum could explain her entire sequence of events. Repeat MRI confirmed a minute enhancing lesion in the floor of the fourth ventricle corresponding to the dorsomedial surface of the left facial colliculus and bilateral medial longitudinal fasciculi (MLF), likely of demyelinating etiology. Her pending CSF tests returned with 7 oligoclonal bands. She received intravenous methylprednisolone and her symptoms nearly resolved by day 14. <h3>Conclusions:</h3> This patient presented with evolving symptoms that appeared to localize to the trochlear nerve initially, but lacked imaging correlate. It is clear in retrospect that her initial presentation represented a skew deviation from early INO, progressing to WEMINO and eventually WEBINO with unilateral fascicular facial palsy. The anatomical correlate was confirmed on repeated imaging. Her clinical course beautifully illustrates the importance of lesion localization for etiological diagnosis. <b>Disclosure:</b> Dr. Senthamarai Siddharthan has nothing to disclose. Dr. Witt has nothing to disclose. Dr. Kini has nothing to disclose. Dr. Vasireddy has nothing to disclose. The institution of Dr. Mathur Kumaraswamy has received research support from Woolsey Pharmaceuticals.

Isolated unilateral lower motor neuron facial palsy as the presenting feature of Guillain Barre Syndrome in a child

Case report An 11 year old girl presented with inability to close the left eye and water drooling from left corner of the mouth while drinking for one day. There was no history of preceding illness or trauma. Examination revealed isolated lower motor neuron type left facial nerve palsy grade V according to the HouseBrackmann grading system. The rest of the neurological examination was normal with intact sensation. She was treated with oral acyclovir and prednisolone and was referred for physiotherapy. On day 3 of the illness, she developed difficulty in getting up from the squatting position. Examination revealed bilateral weakness of lower limbs (Grade 3) with absent ankle jerks along with the left sided lower motor neuron facial nerve palsy noted three days back. No sensory deficits were noted. During the next 24 hours, weakness progressed to involve both upper limbs and the right facial nerve (HouseBrackmann grade III). External ophthalmoplegia was not noted. Nerve conduction study done on the 4 day gave the following results as shown in Table 1.

Update on managing Bell’s palsy

Each year in the UK, around 1 in 5,000 people develops Bell’s palsy – idiopathic unilateral lower motor neurone facial weakness of rapid onset.1 Of those who are not treated,...

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

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.

FACIAL NERVE PALSY IN AN INFANT WITH HEMOPHILIA A

A 5-month-old infant with hitherto undiagnosed hemophilia A, who developed a unilateral lower motor neurone type of facial palsy, is described. A high-resolution CT scan confirmed the nerve palsy to be a consequence of a hemotympanum. The patient recovered completely in 7-10 days after therapy with factor V III concentrate.