12TH-NERVE PALSY - ANALYSIS OF 100 CASES

Objective: To describe the causes and characteristics of hypoglossal n erve palsy. Design: A review of 26 years of personal experience in a l arge public hospital. Results: Twelfth-nerve palsies usually appear as signs rather than symptoms. Tumors, predominantly malignant, produced nearly half of the palsies (49 cases), while gunshot wounds made trau ma (12) the second most common cause. Stroke (6), hysteria (6), multip le sclerosis (6), surgery (5), Guillain-Barre neuropathy (4), and infe ction (4) together accounted for about one third of the patients. Conc lusion: Twelfth-nerve palsy proved to be an ominous sign, with only 15 % of patients experiencing complete or nearly complete recovery.