[EMG prognosis of facial palsy associated with herpes zoster oticus (Ramsay-Hunt's syndrome). A longitudinal study of 11 cases (author's transl].

Eleven patients with peripheral facial palsy associated with geniculate herpes zoster (Ramsay-Hunt's syndrome) have been followed-up clinically and electromyographically. Each patient was examined three times: within the first week, at the end of the third week and 3-4 months after the onset of symptoms. Only in three cases the facial palsy evolved satisfactorily, with an almost total recovery within three weeks. In eight cases the recovery was delayed and incomplete, with residual, and often severe, hemifacial spasm. This study confirms the rather poor prognosis of peripheral facial palsy in Ramsay-Hunt's syndrome. The importance of detecting even slight signs of herpetic eruption in any case of apparently "idiopathic" peripheral facial palsy is emphasized.