Traumatic facial nerve injury: A case of facial nerve avulsion at the cerebellopontine angle

Masumi Mizuki, MD; Fumio Suzuki, MD, PhD; Shiori Amemiya, MD, PhD; Hironobu Nishijima, MD, PhD; Yoshifumi Imai, MD; Osamu Abe, MD, PhD

Radiology Case Reports (Jul 2022)

Traumatic facial nerve injury: A case of facial nerve avulsion at the cerebellopontine angle

Masumi Mizuki, MD,
Fumio Suzuki, MD, PhD,
Shiori Amemiya, MD, PhD,
Hironobu Nishijima, MD, PhD,
Yoshifumi Imai, MD,
Osamu Abe, MD, PhD

Affiliations

Masumi Mizuki, MD: Department of Radiology, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8655, Japan; Corresponding author.
Fumio Suzuki, MD, PhD: Department of Radiology, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8655, Japan
Shiori Amemiya, MD, PhD: Department of Radiology, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8655, Japan
Hironobu Nishijima, MD, PhD: Department of Otolaryngology- Head and Neck Surgery, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, -3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8655, Japan
Yoshifumi Imai, MD: Department of Radiology, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8655, Japan
Osamu Abe, MD, PhD: Department of Radiology, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8655, Japan

Journal volume & issue: Vol. 17, no. 7
pp. 2404 – 2407

Abstract

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Post-traumatic facial nerve paralysis is a common disease, but intracranial facial nerve injury after blunt injury has rarely been reported. We report a case of facial nerve avulsion at the cerebellopontine angle. A 23-year-old female with incomplete right-sided facial nerve palsy and facial spasms presented to our hospital. She had a history of traumatic injury, having fallen off a table and hit her head at the age of 2 years. After the accident, she developed complete right-sided facial nerve palsy and underwent conservative treatment with steroids. A magnetic resonance imaging examination performed 21 years later showed avulsion of the facial nerve at the cerebellopontine angle. Magnetic resonance imaging targeting the facial nerves might provide additional information to computed tomography in cases with poor recovery with conservative treatment.

Published in Radiology Case Reports

ISSN: 1930-0433 (Online)
Publisher: Elsevier
Country of publisher: United States
LCC subjects: Medicine: Medicine (General): Medical physics. Medical radiology. Nuclear medicine
Website: https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/radiology-case-reports

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