Facial nerve is liable to pressure palsy

Recurrent idiopathic facial palsy is a relatively frequent event, occurring in 7% of patients with Bell's palsy.1 Familial cases have been reported.2 An association between recurrent idiopathic facial palsy and hereditary neuropathies is not established. Hereditary neuropathy with liability to pressure palsies (HNPP) is an autosomal dominant neuropathy, commonly due to deletion of the 1.5-Megabase(1.5-Mb) tract on chromosome 17p11.2-12, encoding the peripheral myelin protein 22 (PMP22).3 HNPP is characterized by acute deficits in limb nerves. Although trigeminal or facial nerve involvement has been described,4-6 recent reviews3,7 do not mention cranial nerve involvement. We report a family carrying the 1.5-Mb deletion, in which recurrent facial palsy in the proband was for years the only clinical manifestation. Case report. A young man presented with a history of apparently idiopathic recurrent facial palsy. At age 16 years, he developed a left inferior peripheral facial palsy, which recovered in a few weeks. Two years later he developed a complete right facial palsy, which resolved in 1 month. Results of head MRI and CSF …