Abstract
A case was encountered, in which long standing facial nerve paralysis subsided soon after the middle ear operation.
The patient, 55 year-old female, developed left sided facial nerve paralysis soon after she was inflicted by acute suppurative otitis media on her left side. The paralysis was known to have annoyed more than 30 years.
Author performed left tympanoplasty. During the operation the patient was found to have chronic catarrhalic otitis media with severance of the incostapes joint and small amount of granulation tissue adjacent to the ossicles.
Following the operation it happened that the paralysis did disappear and all facial muscles regained their functions.
Return of the facial nerve function was presumably explained as follows; otitis media she suffered about 30 years ago progressed from acute suppurative form to chronic developing the severance of the incostapes joint and a part of the facial nerve was exposed from tube resulting in the paralysis as the nerve was caught by the contracting scar and granulation tissues.
The fact that the paralysis was cured by the minor procedure might indicate that the traction applied on the facial nerve was not enough to develop severe nerve degeneration.
