Article    Table of Contents                    Full Text of this article Free    Figures/Tables List  Services    Send comment/rapid response letter    Notify a friend about this article    Alert me when this article is cited    Add to Personal Archive    Download to Citation Manager    ACP Search                            Get Permissions  Google Scholar    Search for Related Content  PubMed Articles in PubMed by Author:    Murakami, S.    Yanagihara, N.    Related Articles in PubMed    PubMed Citation    PubMed

BRIEF COMMUNICATION

Bell Palsy and Herpes Simplex Virus: Identification of Viral DNA in Endoneurial Fluid and Muscle

Shingo Murakami, MD; Mutsuhiko Mizobuchi, MD; Yuki Nakashiro, MD; Takashi Doi, MD; Naohito Hato, MD; and Naoaki Yanagihara, MD

1 January 1996 | Volume 124 Issue 1 Part 1 | Pages 27-30

Objective: To determine whether herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) causes Bell palsy.

Design: Prospective study.

Setting: University inpatient service.

Patients: 14 patients with Bell palsy, 9 patients with the Ramsay-Hunt syndrome, and 12 other controls.

Measurements: Viral genomes of HSV-1, varicella-zoster virus, and Epstein-Barr virus were analyzed in clinical samples of facial nerve endoneurial fluid and posterior auricular muscle using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) followed by hybridization with Southern blot analysis.

Results: Herpes simplex virus type 1 genomes were detected in 11 of 14 patients (79%) with Bell palsy but not in patients with the Ramsay-Hunt syndrome or in other controls. The nucleotide sequences of the PCR fragments were identical to those of the HSV-1 genome.

Conclusions: Herpes simplex virus type 1 is the major etiologic agent in Bell palsy.

Author and Article Information

From Ehime University School of Medicine, Ehime, Japan.
Acknowledgments: The authors thank Dr. S. Shinkai for conducting the statistical analysis.
Grant Support: By a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture (06454488), Japan.
Requests for Reprints: Shingo Murakami, MD, Department of Otolaryngology, Ehime University School of Medicine, Shigenobu-cho, Onsen-gun, Ehime 791-02, Japan.
Current Author Addresses: Drs. Murakami, Hato, and Yanagihara: Department of Otolaryngology, Ehime University School of Medicine, Shigenobu-cho, Onsen-gun, Ehime 791-02, Japan.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				Update on managing bell's palsy DTB, July 1, 2008; 46(7): 53 - 54. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				D. H. Gilden and K. L. Tyler Bell's Palsy -- Is Glucocorticoid Treatment Enough? N. Engl. J. Med., October 18, 2007; 357(16): 1653 - 1655. [Full Text] [PDF]

				D. L Alberton and P. J Zed Bell's Palsy: A Review of Treatment Using Antiviral Agents Ann. Pharmacother., October 1, 2006; 40(10): 1838 - 1842. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				Managing Bell's palsy DTB, July 1, 2006; 44(7): 49 - 53. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				L J Vanopdenbosch, K Verhoeven, and J W Casselman Bell's palsy with ipsilateral numbness J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatry, July 1, 2005; 76(7): 1017 - 1018. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. E. Stuart, S. A. Strite, J. A. Magaldi, H. R. Djalilian, and D. H. Gilden Bell's Palsy N. Engl. J. Med., January 27, 2005; 352(4): 416 - 418. [Full Text] [PDF]

				D. H. Gilden Bell's Palsy N. Engl. J. Med., September 23, 2004; 351(13): 1323 - 1331. [Full Text] [PDF]

				N J. Holland and G. M Weiner Recent developments in Bell's palsy BMJ, September 4, 2004; 329(7465): 553 - 557. [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. Strupp, V. C. Zingler, V. Arbusow, D. Niklas, K. P. Maag, M. Dieterich, S. Bense, D. Theil, K. Jahn, and T. Brandt Methylprednisolone, Valacyclovir, or the Combination for Vestibular Neuritis N. Engl. J. Med., July 22, 2004; 351(4): 354 - 361. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. Mutsch, W. Zhou, P. Rhodes, M. Bopp, R. T. Chen, T. Linder, C. Spyr, and R. Steffen Use of the Inactivated Intranasal Influenza Vaccine and the Risk of Bell's Palsy in Switzerland N. Engl. J. Med., February 26, 2004; 350(9): 896 - 903. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]