de Diego J I, Prim M P, Gavilán J
Servicio de ORL, Hospital General Universitario La Paz, Madrid, 28046, España.
Rev Neurol. 2001;32(11):1055-9.
Bell's facial palsy is a common condition with an incidence varying between 11.5 and 40.2 cases per 100,000 persons per year. However, some aspects of its aetiopathogenesis are still not clear.
Over the years four theories have been suggested to explain the disorder: vascular, immunological, compressive and viral. The vascular theory (the oldest) has been ruled out by various studies. Subsequently, the immunological and compressive theories were described almost simultaneously. The former established the mechanisms generating a neural inflammatory response, and the second the morphological basis which made the nerve sensitive to these mechanisms. Both theories suggested, amongst other agents, a virus as the agent triggering the process. Recently a virus of the herpes simplex family has been identified as the cause of the disease.
At present there is broad general agreement that Bell s facial palsy is caused by reactivation of a latent infected with human herpes simplex virus, localized to the facial nerve.
贝尔面瘫是一种常见病症，年发病率为每10万人中有11.5至40.2例。然而，其发病机制的某些方面仍不明确。
多年来，人们提出了四种理论来解释这种病症：血管性、免疫性、压迫性和病毒性。血管理论（最古老的理论）已被各种研究所排除。随后，免疫性和压迫性理论几乎同时被描述。前者确立了产生神经炎症反应的机制，后者确立了使神经对这些机制敏感的形态学基础。这两种理论都认为，除其他因素外，病毒是引发该过程的因素。最近，一种单纯疱疹病毒家族的病毒已被确定为该病的病因。
目前人们普遍广泛认同，贝尔面瘫是由潜伏感染的人类单纯疱疹病毒重新激活所致，该病毒定位于面神经。
