Dear Editor,
We read with interest the article by Ish et al.[1] about a 50-year-old male who developed right-sided facial palsy three weeks after having received the second dose of the Indian Covaxin® vaccine. A causal relationship between vaccination and palsy was assumed.[1] Partial recovery was achieved after 10 days of glucocorticoids.[1] The study is appealing but raises the following comments and concerns.
Peripheral facial palsy has been repeatedly reported as a complication of SARS-CoV-2 vaccinations.[2] In the majority of cases, facial palsy is of the peripheral type. Facial palsy may occur as an isolated condition or together with lesions of other cranial nerves or even together with affection of peripheral nerves. In the latter case, Guillain–Barre syndrome (GBS) with affection of cranial nerves is diagnosed.[3] Thus, we should know if the patient was seen by a neurologist and if affection of other cranial or peripheral nerves was appropriately excluded.
Fig. 1 does not show the front of the patient’s face; thus, it cannot be assessed if facial palsy was of the central or peripheral type. There is also no mention in the text about which of these two types was found in the patient. Differentiating between the two is crucial as treatment and outcome may vary significantly. We should be told if a cerebral MRI had been carried out and if it was normal or indicative of Bickerstaff encephalitis (BBE).
After 10 days of steroid treatment, only incomplete recovery was achieved. We should know why no immunoglobulins were given and the long-term outcome and if recovery could be confirmed by nerve conduction studies of the right facial nerve.
Overall, the elegant study has limitations that challenge the results and their interpretation. We should know if facial palsy was of the central or peripheral type and whether GBS was present or not.
Informed consent
Informed consent was obtained.
Declaration of patient consent
The authors certify that they have obtained all appropriate patient consent forms. In the form the patient(s) has/have given his/her/their consent for his/her/their images and other clinical information to be reported in the journal. The patients understand that their names and initials will not be published and due efforts will be made to conceal their identity, but anonymity cannot be guaranteed.
Financial support and sponsorship
Nil.
Conflicts of interest
There are no conflicts of interest.
The study was approved by the institutional review board.
References
- 1.Ish S, Ish P. Facial nerve palsy after COVID-19 vaccination - A rare association or a coincidence. Indian J Ophthalmol. 2021;69:2550–2. doi: 10.4103/ijo.IJO_1658_21. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 2.Iftikhar H, Noor SMU, Masood M, Bashir K. Bell's palsy after 24 hours of mRNA-1273 SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. Cureus. 2021;13:e15935. doi: 10.7759/cureus.15935. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 3.Finsterer J. Exacerbating Guillain-Barrésyndrome eight days after vector-based COVID-19 vaccination. Case Rep Infect Dis. 2021;2021:3619131. doi: 10.1155/2021/3619131. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]