Paediatric Peripheral Facial Nerve Palsy-The Role of Ear Pathology.

Authors

Tal Cozacov, Shiri Cooper, Yoav Vardy, Vered Hoffer, Yoel Levinsky, David Ulanovski, Eyal Raveh, Oded Scheuerman, Daniel Landau

Published in

Journal of paediatrics and child health. Sep 11, 2026. Epub Sep 11, 2026.

Abstract

Nearly half of the acquired cases of peripheral facial nerve palsy (PFNP) are of unknown aetiology, a condition termed Bell's palsy (BP). PFNP in children can often be associated with acute otitis media (OM). Differences between the clinical course and prognosis in OM-associated PFNP (OM-PFNP) and BP in children are not well characterised.
Retrospective review of hospitalised children in a tertiary care children's hospital due to non-traumatic and non-surgery associated with PFNP.
Out of 177 children hospitalised with facial nerve palsy, 46 were excluded. A total of 131 cases of PFNP were included in the study, 80 with OM-PFNP and 51 with BP. Children with OM-PFNP were younger at presentation (38.8 ± 50.4 vs. 96.6 ± 74.7 months, p < 0.001), presented more frequently during the winter months (32.5% vs. 25.5%, p < 0.05), and had a higher CRP value [median (IQR): 1.3 (0.18-4.2) vs. 0 (0-0) mg/dL, p < 0.005]. There was no significant difference in the corticosteroid use rate (87.5% vs. 88.2%, p = 0.9). Four children with OM-PFNP (and none of the BP group) had an additional underlying pathology.
Children with OM-PFNP are younger at presentation and should be assessed for the presence of a significant associated middle ear/petrous bone pathology.

PMID:
42728219
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 12 Sep 2026.

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