V. Bonkowsky et al., DELAYED FACIAL PALSY FOLLOWING UNEVENTFUL MIDDLE-EAR SURGERY - A HERPES-SIMPLEX VIRUS TYPE-1 REACTIVATION, The Annals of otology, rhinology & laryngology, 107(11), 1998, pp. 901-905
In rare cases, a facial palsy appears a few days after uneventful midd
le ear surgery. The reason for this delayed palsy is unclear. One hypo
thesis is that it results from a reactivation of herpes simplex virus
type 1 (HSV-1) in the geniculate ganglion of the facial nerve. From 19
87 to 1996, in the course of over 1,800 middle ear operations, we obse
rved 7 ipsilateral delayed facial palsies and investigated 5 of them u
sing immunologic and virologic methods, including the polymerase chain
reaction (PCR). We could detect HSV-1 genome with the nested primer P
CR in the tongue swabs of 4 of the 5 examined patients with delayed fa
cial palsy. The immunologic changes in these palsies are also compatib
le with a reactivation of HSV-1. We conclude that minimal stimulation
of the facial nerve during middle ear surgery could result in a reacti
vation of HSV-1 in the geniculate ganglion, which may in turn lead to
a facial palsy.