Loading...
Facial palsy is one of several presentations of Lyme disease. To identify predictors of Lyme disease facial palsy, Boston investigators retrospectively reviewed medical records of all 420 children (age, <20 years) who presented to a single emergency department with peripheral facial palsy during a 12-year period. Lyme disease was defined as the presence of erythema migrans or serologic evidence of infection with Borrelia burgdorferi. Children with sparing of the forehead musculature were excluded.
Among 141 children who had a laboratory-confirmed etiology for their facial palsy, 75% had Lyme disease, 20% had otitis media or mastoiditis, and 4% had facial nerve trauma. Of the 313 children with facial palsy who were evaluated for Lyme disease,…