Vol.103 No.2 contentsPRACTICA OTO-RHINO-LARYNGOLOGICA
Vol. 103 No. 2 February 2010
Ramsy Hunt Syndrome with Multiple Cranial Nerve Palsy
Yoko Cho, Hidenori Yokoi, Noritsugu Ono, Toru Yao,
Kaori Kase, Eiko Nakazawa and Hiroshi Yoshikawa
(Juntendo University, Urayasu Hospital)
Katsuhisa Ikeda
(Juntendo University, School of Medicine)
In 1907, Ramsy Hunt first described a collection of clinical symptoms presentations including facial paralysis and rash, recognized other frequent symptoms and signs include tinnitus, hearing loss and vertigo caused by varicella-zoster virus (VZV). Later, Djupesland G, et al. reported in 1977 that acute peripheral facial palsy may be involved with cranial polyneuropathy and may be caused by a virus infection. We report a case of cranial nerve palsy due to varicella-zoster virus infection first presently as recurrent nerve palsy. The subject also suffered transient cranial nerve XII involvement on the opposite side that responded well to oral acyclovir and intravenous steroids. We discuss the mechanism of polyneuropathy caused by VZV.
Key words :Ramsy Hunt, multiple cranial nerve palsy, varicella-zoster virus