Otolaryngology Online Journal

A new assessment for evaluating the facial disability in patients with Bells Palsy

Joint Event on 6^th International Conference on Otolaryngology: ENT Surgery & World Congress and Expo on Cell & Stem Cell Research
September 10-11, 2018 | Paris, France

Arianna Di Stadio

Sapienza University of Rome, Italy

Scientific Tracks Abstracts : ENT and Stem Cell

DOI: 10.4066/2250-0359-C1-002

Abstract:

Introduction: Several authors have proposed different methods for evaluating movement’s disease in patient affected by facial palsy. Despite these efforts the House Brackmann is still the most used assessment especially in the Otolaryngology community. Aim: The aim of our study is to assess a new rating assessment, the ADS, for the clinical evaluation of facial paralysis. Materials and Methods: Sixty patients affected by unilateral facial Bell paralysis were enrolled in a prospective study from 2012 to 2014. Their facial nerve function was evaluated by three physicians with our assessment by analysing facial district that were divided in upper, middle and lower third of the face. We analysed different facial expressions. Each movement studied represents the action of different muscles. The action of each muscle was scored from 0 to 1: 0 represents a complete flaccid paralysis, 1 indicates a normal muscle’s. Synkinesis was considered in the assessment by reducing 0.5 from final score. Our results considered the easy and the speed in the evaluation process of the assessment, the accuracy to identify the muscle deficit and, the ability to calculate synkinesis by using a score. Results: All the three observers agreed 100% in the highest degree of deficit. We found some discrepancies in intermediate score with 92% agreement in upper face, 87% in middle and 80% in lower face, where more muscles were involved in each movement. Conclusion: Our scale had some limitations linked to the small group of patients evaluated and we have had a little difficulty for understanding the intermediate score of 0.3 and 0.7. However, this was an accurate tool to quickly evaluate facial nerve function? This has potential as an alternative scale to diagnose facial nerve disorders.

Biography:

Arianna Di Stadio is an Otolaryngologist, specialized in otology/neurotology, facial plastic surgery, and microsurgery. She is currently responsible for the otolaryngology research line at the San Camillo Hospital IRCCS in Venice, Italy. She collaborates with the Columbia University of New York and the Wayne University in Detroit. She is the reviewer for several international peer-reviewed journals and she is the author of several articles published in international journals.

E-mail: ariannadistadio@hotmail.com

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