Isolated congenital facial nerve agenesis

An otherwise healthy 2-month-old boy was referred to ENT for a congenital right facial palsy, with a birth history of difficult ventouse delivery. Initially, a traumatic cause was suspected, however subsequent MR 3D-FIESTA ( weighted) imaging demonstrated a right facial nerve agenesis with normal ap...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inBJR case reports Vol. 9; no. 3; p. 20220119
Main Authors Gill, Amarit Kay, Raghavan, Ashok, Bhargava, Eishaan Kamta
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published England The British Institute of Radiology 01.05.2023
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Case Report
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Summary:An otherwise healthy 2-month-old boy was referred to ENT for a congenital right facial palsy, with a birth history of difficult ventouse delivery. Initially, a traumatic cause was suspected, however subsequent MR 3D-FIESTA ( weighted) imaging demonstrated a right facial nerve agenesis with normal appearances of the remainder of the brain parenchyma, cranial nerves and parotid glands. There were no syndromic features or hearing difficulties. Isolated congenital nerve agenesis is a rare condition, with very few case reports available in the literature. Pre-natal 4D ultrasound imaging further supports the diagnosis. To our knowledge, this is the first published pre-natal ultrasound image of congenital facial nerve palsy. The infant has been referred for consideration of nerve reconstruction surgery, and is receiving multi-disciplinary input from ENT, Physiotherapy and Ophthalmology, the latter for prevention of exposure keratitis.
ISSN:2055-7159
2055-7159
DOI:10.1259/bjrcr.20220119