High frequency audiometry in facial paralysis.

High frequency (10-21 kHz) hearing thresholds were measured in 54 patients with Bell's palsy. In 25 (46%) of the patients the high frequency hearing was worse in the affected side, and in 16 (30%) better. The differences in the mean threshold between the two ears varied from 17.1 to 3.8 dB, being statistically significant at half of the frequencies measured. The findings support the idea that facial palsy is one manifestation of a lesion which extends beyond the VIIth cranial nerve.