Proximal intratemporal facial nerve in Bell's palsy surgery. A study correlating anatomical and surgical findings.

This paper deals with the surgical approaches to that part of the intratemporal facial nerve lying proximal to the cochleariform process and focuses on two issues: the advisability of disarticulating the ossicular chain to reach this area and the accessibility of the labyrinthine segment via the transmastoid, extralabyrinthine, subtemporal route. Relevant anatomical features, which are based on 39 gross temporal bones, 47 histologic sections, and 10 cadaveric specimens are first considered. In the head specimens, it was possible to attempt exploration of the entire nerve with the transmastoid, extralabyrinthine, subtemporal operation and then remove the labyrinth to gauge the adequacy of this approach as an avenue to the labyrinthine segment. These anatomical findings, their bearing on the questions at hand, and the author's clinical experience are incorporated into descriptions of the operations currently in vogue for exploring the proximal nerve in patients with Bell's palsy.