Abstract
BACKGROUND
Facial nerve paralysis (FP) is a possible complication of cerebellopontine angle tumor surgery. Several donor nerves have been used in the past for facial reanimation. We report the results of 30 cases of masseter-to-facial anastomosis.
OBJECTIVE
To prospectively evaluate the efficacy of V to VII anastomosis after FP.
METHODS
In a prospective study, we included 30 consecutive patients with FP (20 women and 10 men) whose mean age was 48.8 yr (32-76 yr). In almost all cases, FP developed after cerebellopontine angle tumor surgery (29 patients), whereas in one case, FP occurred after skull base trauma. Pre- and postoperative evaluation of facial nerve function was performed using the House-Brackmann (HB) scale and the Sokolovsky scale, as well as by electromyography. Follow-up ranged from 11 to 51 mo and averaged 22 mo.
RESULTS
All patients achieved functional recovery of the facial nerve from VI to either III or IV HB degree. Patients with short time FP showed significantly better postoperative recovery.
CONCLUSION
The results of the V to VII anastomosis demonstrate a significant improvement of facial nerve function and virtually no complications.
