Bell’s palsy is a common, idiopathic, unilateral facial paresis or paralysis of sudden onset. This retrospective study reviewed the records of 193 patients diagnosed with Bell’s palsy. The patient’s clinical data, House-Brackman (h-B) grade, and data from five electrophysiological tests were included in the study. The five electrophysiological tests were electroneurography degeneration index (ENoG DI), compound muscle action potential (CMAP) latency, blink reflex (BR), nerve excitability test (NET) and needle electromyography (nEMG). The authors used decision tree analysis with a CART (classification and regression tree) model to identify predictors of recovery. The results showed that there were five main predictors of recovery: ENoG DI in the orbicularis oculi, initial H-B grade, interference pattern in orbicularis oculi, NET difference and CMAP latency in the frontalis. A high likelihood of recovery was observed in patients with ENoG DI < 71.72% and H-B grade ≤ 3 at initial presentation. A higher ENoG DI value was observed in patients with incomplete recovery. The authors conclude that H-B grade at initial presentation, combined with multiple electrophysiological results, can reliably predict recovery in patients with Bell’s palsy.
Bell’s palsy outcomes
Reviewed by Gauri Mankekar
Integration of five electrophysiological test results for predicting the outcome of patients with Bell’s Palsy.
CONTRIBUTOR
Gauri Mankekar
Department of Otolaryngology-Head Neck Surgery, Louisiana State University Shreveport, Louisiana, USA.
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