BrainWaves #42 There's more to the facial nerve than Bell's Palsy

MedLink Neurology Podcast is delighted to feature selected episodes from BrainWaves, courtesy of James E Siegler MD, its originator and host. BrainWaves is an academic audio podcast whose mission is to educate medical providers through clinical cases and topical reviews in neurology, medicine, and the humanities, and episodes originally aired from 2016 to 2021.

Originally released: July 18, 2017

Yeah, we talk about Bell's palsy here. A lot, actually. But there's also hemifacial spasm, blepharospasm, facial myokymia, and pathologic sialorrhea as it pertains to neurodegenerative disease--not to mention the facial nerve anatomy! Sit down and buckle up; you may want to take notes on this one. BrainWaves podcasts and online content are intended for medical education only and should not be used to guide medical decision-making in routine clinical practice. Any cases discussed in this episode are fictional and do not contain any patient health-identifying information.

REFERENCES

Gaio E, Marioni G, de Filippis C, Tregnaghi A, Caltran S, Staffieri A. Facial nerve paralysis secondary to acute otitis media in infants and children. J Paediatr Child Health 2004;40(8):483-6. PMID 15265194

Gilden DH. Clinical practice. Bell's Palsy. N Engl J Med 2004;351(13):1323-31. PMID 15385659

Sweeney CJ, Gilden DH. Ramsay Hunt syndrome. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2001;71(2):149-54. PMID 11459884

We believe that the principles expressed or implied in the podcast remain valid, but certain details may be superseded by evolving knowledge since the episode's original release date.