Abstract
A statistical analysis was performed of 662 cases of facial palsy treated in the Department of Otolaryngology of Kyoto University Hospital from January 1977 to September 1982.
1) Of these, 447 cases (67.5%) were diagnosed as Bell's palsy, 59 (8.9%) as Ramsay-Hunt's syndrome, 45 (6.8%) as traumatic palsy, 45 (6.8%) as operative trauma, 23 (3.5%) as congenital palsy, 15 (2.3%) as otogenic palsy and 28 (4.2%) as of other origin.
2) There were 232 males and 215 females with Bell's palsy, and 28 males and 31 females with Ramsay-Hunt's syndrome.
3) There were 221 cases of Bell's palsy on the right side, 225 cases on the left side. There were 25 cases of Ramsay-Hunt's syndrome on the right side, and 34 cases on the left side. The left sides was more frequently involved both in Ramsay-Hunt's syndrome and Bell's palsy.
4) The number of patients with Bell's palsy and Ramsay-Hunt's syndrome showed a tendency to decrease in November.
5) Most patients in Bell's palsy are between 30 to 59 years of age, and 30 to 49 years in Ramsay-Hunt's syndrome.
6) For recurrent facial palsy, there were 14 cases of unilateral recurrent facial palsy (11 cases were Bell's palsy), 25 cases of bilateral alternating facial palsy (all cases were Bell's palsy) and one case of bilateral simultaneous facial palsy.
7) Of the 61 cases of Bell's palsy, 13 cases (21.3%) had serological findings indicating viral infection. For Ramsay-Hunt's syndrome, 9 (75%) of 12 cases showed significant increase in the titer of antibody to Varicella Zoster virus.
