Corticosteroid treatment of childhood Bell's palsy

The therapeutic effect of corticosteroids in acute idiopathic peripheral ne rve paralysis (Bell's palsy) in children is controversial, The authors eval uated the effect of steroids on the early and late outcome of children with Bell's palsy in a prospective randomized controlled setting, Forty-two pat ients (21 females, 21 males) with complete paralysis were enrolled in the s tudy, Group 1 (n = 21) received methylprednisolone (1 mg/kg daily for 10 da ys orally); Group 2 (n = 21) did not. All patients were observed in the fir st 3 days of the disease and at 4, 6, and 12 months of follow-up. The mean age of Group 1 was 52.4 +/- 4.3 months, not significantly different from th at of Group 2, In Group 1, 86% and 100% exhibited normal nerve function at 4 and 6 months of follow-up, respectively; in Group 2, 72% and 86% demonstr ated complete recovery at 4 and 6 months, respectively, with improvement in all patients by 12 months. The improvement rates between the treated and u ntreated groups did not differ significantly. No side effects necessitated steroid withdrawal, The results of this study indicate that steroid therapy initiated at an early stage of childhood Bell's palsy does not significant ly improve the outcome. (C) 1999 by Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserv ed.