Table 1.

Causes of facial nerve palsy.

Causes	Examples
Idiopathic VII nerve palsy (Bell’s palsy)	Isolated—acute onset—unilateral—detailed history and examination are normal
Infectious	Otitis media (4 to 37%) [11,19,20] Mastoiditis or cholesteatoma Herpes zoster (Ramsay Hunt syndrome) Epstein-Barr virus Lyme disease Tuberculosis Cytomegalovirus Adenovirus Rubella Mumps Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) Haemophilus influenza Mycoplasma pneumoniae Syphilis Leprosy Cat scratch fever
Neoplasia/malignancy	Posterior fossa tumours Parotid gland tumours Leukaemia Lymphoma Cholesteatoma
Trauma/nerve compression	Perinatal trauma Temporal bone fracture Raised intracranial pressure Otic barotrauma Iatrogenic trauma (surgical procedures) Cleidocranial dysostosis Histiocytosis X
Congenital/genetic	Arnold-Chiari syndrome Absence of depressor anguli oris muscle (cardiofacial syndrome) Inner ear or facial nerve malformation Moebius syndrome Syringobulbia Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy Myotonic dystrophy Myasthenic syndromes
Neurological	Guillain Barré syndrome Multiple sclerosis
Inflammatory	Henoch-Schönlein purpura Kawasaki disease Sarcoidosis
Metabolic conditions	Diabetes mellitus Hyperparathyroidism Hypothyroidism Acute porphyria
Other	Hypertension Autoimmune issues (e.g., lupus) Pregnancy Haemophilia Melkersson-Rosenthal syndrome