Priscila Bogar

Treatment Comparison Between Dexamethasone and Placebo for Idiopathic Facial Palsy

Idiopathic facial palsy (Bell’s palsy) was first described by Charles Bell in 1883 [1]. Since then, the treatments employed have been empirical in some way, as no etiological cause has been well established. Some theories are widely accepted such as viral, ischemic, and autoimmune origin [2–4]. All of them are based on vascular changes causing edema with neural compression and then neuropraxia. The drug most commonly used is cortisone, with the finality of aging on the edema. In the literature we have found no citations about the use of dexamethasone, although it is known to have an excellent effect in acute processes of the central nervous system because of its fast efficacy and aggregation on neuronal membrane. We observed that many patients treated with different drugs had a good evolution too. The aim of this study is to find out the real advantage of treating patients with dexamethasone by analyzing the final evolution of the paralysis and the recuperation time.

Facial Nerve Neuroma

The tumors that affect the facial nerve account for 5% of all cases of facial palsy; they can be intrinsic or extrinsic. Neuroma of the facial nerve extremely rare and plays only a small part among all the tumors that affect the nerve, although it accounts for 90% of primary tumors of the facial nerve. In the literature, about 240 cases have been described, the majority in the last 14 years because of the development of radiological examinations. We present three cases of intratemporal neuroma of the facial nerve diagnosed only by surgical procedure. We review the histology, diagnosis, and treatment of this tumor. The aim of the paper is to alert otolaryngologists to the importance of early diagnosis and surgical treatment, which is directly proportional to a good functional result.