Recurrent unilateral peripheral facial palsy in a patient with an enlarged styloid process.

Abstract

Recurrent peripheral facial paresis is a rare symptom that may be caused by multiple pathologic conditions. We report a case of recurrent peripheral facial palsies caused by an ipsilateral enlarged styloid process. A surgical excision of the process was performed. The treatment was well tolerated. Postoperatively, no further recurrent paresis was observed. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case study of an enlarged styloid process with facial paresis. A detailed workup, including imaging, should be performed in cases with recurrent facial paresis and/or cases with a history of trauma and facial paresis and, of course, to exclude a neoplastic etiology.