Case of the Week
Section Editors: Matylda Machnowska1 and Anvita Pauranik2
1University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
2BC Children's Hospital, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
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February 18, 2008
Idiopathic (viral?) Left CN VII Palsy
- A.K.A.: Bell's palsy, herpetic facial paralysis Linear and contiguous enhancement of the nerve (> proximal, < distal), may involve the fundus of the internal auditory canal
- Degree of enhancement does not correlate with clinical findings and/or prognosis
- Main differential diagnosis: perineural tumor spread, schwannoma, hemangioma (all are mass-like or nodular)
- Features of 'atypical' Bell's palsy: bilateral, recurrent, severe pain, insidious onset, progressive, chronic (> 2 months)
- All atypical Bell's palsies require MR imaging
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