BILATERAL FACIAL PALSY CAUSED BY BILATERAL MASKED MASTOIDITIS

Acquired simultaneous bilateral facial palsy caused by bilateral maske d mastoiditis in a 25-month-old girl is reported. After the administra tion of antibiotics for 10 days for treatment of bilateral acute otiti s media, overt signs of otitis media diminished as bilateral facial pa lsy ensued, For diagnosis of masked mastoiditis, brain magnetic resona nce imaging was of significant value in our case. The findings in this case suggest that masked mastoiditis should be considered as a cause of bilateral facial palsy, as well as unilateral facial palsy. (C) 199 8 by Elsevier Science Inc, All rights reserved.