There are many causes of pediatric facial nerve palsy, but facial palsy caused by mumps virus is rather rare. Although the prognosis of pediatric facial nerve palsy is better than that of facial palsy in adults, some cases fail to show complete healing or develop pathological synergy, which can significantly reduce the quality of life. In this report, we describe a case of pediatric facial nerve palsy caused by mumps virus.
The patient was a one and a half years old boy. His mother noticed that the child had difficulty moving the right side of his face, and consulted a local doctor. There was no parotid gland swelling, but IgG/IgM antibodies for mumps virus were positive. The ENoG level was 42.5% after 14 days, and the facial palsy had completely resolved when the patient visited us two months later.
It has been reported that mumps virus is the cause in 1.5% of cases of facial paralysis in children and that 18.9% of cases of Bell’s palsy show positive test results for mumps. Furthermore, 1.5% of cases of facial paralysis caused by mumps show parotid gland swelling. Treatment is similar to that for Bell’s palsy.
Although mumps is rarely implicated in pediatric facial nerve palsy, its involvement cannot be ruled out even in the absence of parotid gland swelling, and it is necessary to proactively measure the antibody titers against various viruses, including mumps.
