Unilateral isolated paralysis of the soft palate in childhood with suspected influenza virus infection

Abstract

Unilateral isolated paralysis of the soft palate is a relatively rare condition. In adults, it is often caused by varicella zoster virus infection, while the cause is often unknown in children. There have been few reports of pediatric cases in comparison with adults, and the time from the onset to symptom improvement is short, so the detailed clinical course is unknown. We herein report a case of unilateral isolated paralysis of the soft palate in childhood and confirm the improvement of nasopharyngeal closure based on nasopharyngeal endoscopic and video fluorographic findings. The subjective symptoms disappeared five days after the onset, and the prognosis was good. Based on the temporal relationship, the involvement of influenza was suspected, but it is unlikely that the influenza virus itself directly caused inflammation of the cranial nerve. We postulate that the etiology involved inflammation of the pharyngeal branch of the vagal nerve.