| idiopathic |
| idiopathic facial nerve palsy (Bell’s palsy) |
common |
| traumatic |
| petrous bone fracture |
surgery may be indicated |
| infectious |
| borreliosis |
lumbar puncture; antibiotic treatment tailored to the stage and extent of the ‧infection |
| HIV |
in the seroconversion phase with lymphocytic pleocytosis, also in the late phase with meningeal lymphomatosis |
| herpes zoster oticus |
lumbar puncture; virostatic agents |
| other viral pathogens: cytomegalovirus, rubella virus, mumps virus, influenza B virus, Coxsackie virus; pathogens of other types: rickettsia, ehrlichiosis |
rare |
| Guillain-Barré syndrome |
lumbar puncture, with determination of ganglioside autoantibodies when indicated; treatment: intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG), possibly plasmapheresis |
| acute and chronic otitis media |
otological consultation |
| neoplastic |
| schwannoma |
facial n. (rare), vestibular n. |
| meningioma, glomus tumor |
originating in the cerebellopontine angle, often with further cranial nerve deficits |
| malignant tumors |
skull base tumors, parotid carcinoma |
| cholesteatoma |
slow onset, gradual worsening |
| metabolic |
| diabetes mellitus |
mainly in association with arterial hypertension |
| pregnancy |
increased risk mainly in the last trimester |
| rare sporadic cases |
sarcoidosis, Wegener disease, Sjögren syndrome, Melkersson-Rosenthal ‧syndrome, acute lymphatic leukemia, carotid artery dissection in the neck |
