[Trigeminal sensory involvement in Bell's palsy (author's transl)].

Trigeminal sensory involvement was noted in 14 out of 24 cases of Bell's palsy. The authors describe its characteristics and its chronology with regard to the facial paralysis. Then they propose a vascular mechanism for this association on the basis of two kinds of data. First it is known that there is a common arterial supply of the VIIth and Vth cranial nerves through the middle meningeal vascular system. Secondly some exceptional complications of embolisation within that system have included involvement of both VIIth and Vth sensory nerves. These facts support the vascular basis of Bell's palsy and present an example of a vascular territorial pathology in cranial nerve involvement.