Abstract
The prognosis of facial palsy complicated with herpes zoster oticus is not so good as that of Bell's palsy. Decompression surgery for this disease is not always effective. Although corticosteroid has usually been used together with stellate block, the use of corticosteroid for viral infections has lately begun to be controversial. The recent trend is that corticosteroid therapy should be contraindicated in herpes zoster. The authors had two adult male patients with disseminated herpes zoster oticus. In both cases no relationships were recognized between the occurrence and the corticosteroid administration. In the literature the authors do not discover any descriptions of the dissemination of localized herpes zoster oticus under corticosteroid administration. There were rather many opinions which encouraged the high doses of corticosteroid for facial palsy complicated with herpes zoster oticus. In the treatment of herpes zoster oticus except associated with other factors leading to immuno-suppression, the authors would like to propose that because of the coinplication of facial palsy corticosteroid should be used simultaneously with the administration of gammagloblin.
