Abstract
Of 625 patients with Bell's palsy, 26 from 25 families (4.0%) had a positive family history of Bell's palsy. Genealogic analysis of the families indicated the mode of inheritance of familial Bell's palsy possibly to be autosomal dominant inheritance with low penetration. The prognosis of familial Bell's palsy was generally favorable. Age, sex, recurrence, and inherited factors are discussed.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Alter
M
. Familial aggregation of Bell's palsy . Arch Neurol 1963 ;8 :557 –64
2.
Kakar
PK
Sawhney
KL
Saharia
PS
. Familial Bell's palsy (case report) . J Laryngol Otol 1966 ;80 :628 –30
3.
Currie
S
. Familial oculomotor palsy with Bell's palsy . Brain 1970 ;93 :193 –8
4.
Takahashi
A
Fujiwara
R
. Familial Bell's palsy (Japanese) . Clin Neurol (Tokyo) Rinsho Shinkeigaku 1971 ;11 :454 –61
5.
Willbrand
JW
Blumhagen
JD
May
M
. Inherited Bell's palsy . Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol 1974 ;83 :343 –6
6.
Alonso-Vilatela
ME
Bustamante-Balcárcel
A
Figueroa-Tapia
HH
. Family aggregation in Bell's palsy . Acta Otolaryngol (Stockh ) 1979 ;87 :413 –7
7.
Merworth
HR
. Facial paralysis prosopoplegia . NY State J Med 1944 ;44 :1546 –54
8.
Minowada
H
. Familial Bell's palsy: report of five cases (Japanese) . Practica Otol Kyoto 1967 ;60 :720 –6
9.
Adour
KK
Byl
FM
Hilsinger
RL
Jr
Kahn
ZM
Sheldon
MI
. The true nature of Bell's palsy: analysis of 1,000 consecutive patients . Laryngoscope 1978 ;88 :787 –801
10.
Cawthorne
T
Haynes
DR
. Facial palsy . Br Med J 1956 ;2 : 1197 –200
11.
Hosoya
M
Ito
S
. Familial Bell's palsy: report of a case (Japanese) . Oto-Rhino-Laryngol (Tokyo) (Jibi Inkoka Tenbo) 1982 ;25 :25 –8
12.
Yanagihara
N
Nishimura
H
Hazama
H
On standardized documentation of facial palsy (Japanese) . J Otolaryngol Jpn 1977 ;80 :799 –805
13.
Danforth
HB
. Familial Bell's palsy . Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol 1964 ;73 :179 –83
14.
Sugiyama
S
Tamaki
H
Nakajima
R
. Recurrent familial facial palsy: case report (Japanese) . J Otolaryngol Jpn 1973 ;76 : 829 –32
