Table 1.
Patient characteristics
| Author | Country | Study type | No of cases | Patient No. | Patient characteristics | Age/Sex | GB present | Affected side of face | Facial palsy as first sign or not | Features related to facial palsy | CSF results | COVID‐19 related symptoms | Other signs/symptoms | Imaging | Treatment | Treatment outcome | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lima et al. | Brazil | Case series | 8 | 1 | None | 43/F | No | Right | Yes | Moderate (HB Grade 3) | NS | Mild symptoms | Ipsilateral abducent nerve palsy | CT Scan normal | Oral corticosteroids | PR | |
| 2 | None | 25/F | No | Right | Yes | Mild (HB Grade 2) | NS | Mild | None | Brain MRI normal | Oral corticosteroids + acyclovir | CR. | |||||
| 3 | None | 33/F | No | Right | Yes | Moderate (HB Grade 3) | NS | Mild | None | NA | Oral corticosteroids + acyclovir | PR | |||||
| 4 | None | 26/F | No | Left | No (after 2–10 days for all Nos) | Mild (HB Grade 2) | NS | Mild | None | MRI: left CN7 enhancement | Oral corticosteroids | CR | |||||
| 5 | None | 50/F | No | Left | No | Moderate (HB Grade 3) | Protein: mildly elevated; WBC: normal; SARS‐COV: negative | Mild | None | CT scan: normal | Oral corticosteroids | PR | |||||
| 6 | None | 38/F | No | Left | No | Mild (HB Grade 2) | NS | Mild | None | Brain MRI: normal | Supportive (eye lubricant) | CR | |||||
| 7 | None | 39/F | No | Right | No | Mild (HB Grade 2) | NS | Mild | None | Brain MRI: normal | Oral corticosteroids | CR | |||||
| 8 | None | 34/M | No | Left | No | Mild (HB Grade 2) | NS | Mild | None | Brain MRI: normal | IV corticosteroids | CR | |||||
| Homma et al. | Japan | Case report | 1 | 1 | Smoker | 35/F | No | Right | Yes | NA | NS | Cough, malaise, sore throat, nausea, fever, right‐sided aguesia of tongue and anosmia | None | CT scan: multiple bilateral ground‐glass opacities | Acetaminophen, Maoto, favipiravir, and inhaled Ciclesonide (corticosteroid) | CR | |
| Goh et al. | Singapore | Case report | 1 | 1 | NA | 27/M | No | Left | No (after 6 days) | Left‐sided otalgia | NS | Myalgia, cough, fever, dysguesia, left‐sided throbbing headache, and conjunctival infection | None | Chest X‐ray: unremarkable; brain MRI; left CN7 enhancement | Oral corticosteroid, valacyclovir and Lopinavir/ritonavir | No significant improvement. | |
| Figueiredo et al. | Portugal | Case report | 1 | 1 | Pregnant | 35/F | No | Left | Yes | Involuntary drooling, left‐side labial commissure deviation and ipsilateral lagophthalmos | NA | None | None | NA | Corticosteroid therapy and eye hydration therapy | No significant improvement. | |
| Caamaño et al. | Spain | Case report | 1 | 1 | None | 61/M | Yes | Bilateral | No (after 10 days) | Involuntary drooling on his right facial commissure, unresponsive blink reflex on both eyes | Protein: mildly elevated; WBC: normal; SARS‐COV: negative | Fever, cough, and pneumonia | None | Brain MRI: unremarkable; Chest X‐ray: bilateral frosted glass pneumonia | Oral corticosteroid, antimalarial and lopinavir/Ritonavir | No significant improvement. | |
| Muras et al. | Spain | Case report | 1 | 1 | None | 20/M | No | Bilateral | No (after a week) | NA | Protein: elevated; WBC: elevated; SARS‐COV: negative | Fever, significant asthenia, headache, myalgia, nausea, headache, odynophagia and vomiting | EBV coinfection | Brain MRI: confirmed bilateral facial neuritis | Levofloxacin and oral corticosteroid | CR | |
| Manganotti et al. | Italy | Case series | 3 | 1 | NA | 72/M | Yes | Right | No (after 18 days) | Mild right sided lower face weakness | Protein: elevated; WBC: normal; SARS‐COV: negative | Fever, dyspnea, hyposmia, ageusia | Flaccid tetraparesis, hypesthesia of extremities, dysuria, dysphasia, sinus arrythmia | NA | IVIG cycle, antimalarial, oseltamivir, darunavir, IV corticosteroid, and tocilizumab | NA | |
| 2 | NA | 49/F | Yes | Right | No (after 14 days) | Right‐sided hypoesthesia of the face | Protein: elevated; WBC: normal; SARS‐COV: negative | Fever, cough, dyspnea, hyposmia, and ageusia | Ophthalmoplegia with diplopia in the vertical and lateral gaze, and limb ataxia | Brain MRI: normal | IVIG cycle, antimalarial, lopinavir–ritonavir, IV corticosteroid | Progressive improvement | |||||
| 3 | NA | 76/M | Yes | Left | No (after 22 days) | Mild left‐sided lower facial deficit | Protein: elevated; WBC: normal; SARS‐COV: negative | Fever, cough, hyposmia, ageusia | Mild transient diplopia, tetraparesis and dysuria | NA | IVIG cycle, oseltamivir, darunavir, IV corticosteroid, | Progressive improvement | |||||
| Tocilizumab, | |||||||||||||||||
| meropenem, linezolid | |||||||||||||||||
| clarithromycin, | |||||||||||||||||
| doxycycline and fluconazole | |||||||||||||||||
| Khaja et al. | USA | Case report | 1 | 1 | HTN and asthma | 44/M | Yes | Bilateral | No (after 3 days) | Severe (HB Grade 5) | Protein: elevated; WBC: normal; glucose: normal | Ageusia | None | Chest X‐ray: clear; MRI brain: unremarkable | IVIG | CR | |
| Sancho‐Saldaña et al. | Spain | Case report | 1 | 1 | None | 56/F | Yes | Bilateral | No (after 20 days) | NA | Protein: elevated; WBC: normal; SARS‐COV: negative | Fever, dry cough, and dyspnea | Tetraparesis, lumbar pain, pararesthesia in both hands and oropharyngeal weakness | Chest X‐ray: lobar consolidation | Antimalarial, azithromycin and IVIG | PR | |
| Theophanous et al. | USA | Case report | 1 | 1 | Prematurely born, multiple congenital abnormalities, asthma, and gastrostomy tube feeding | 6/M | No | Right | Yes | Moderate severe (HB Grade 4) | NA | None | Tachycardiac | NA | IV acyclovir, IVIG infusion, lubricating eye drops and IV corticosteroids | Significant improvement | |
| Dahl et al. | Norway | Case report | 1 | 1 | Acute MI | 37/M | No | Right | No (after 18 days) | NA | Protein: elevated; IgG: normal; WBC: elevated | Fever, headache, dyspnea | Oliguria, hypotension, tachycardiac, tachypneic and unilateral painful neck swelling | X‐ray thorax: bibasal consolidations | IV furosemide and intermittently required low‐dose norepinephrine | CR | |
| Egilmez et al. | Turkey | Retrospective cohort | 8 | 1 | HTN, CHF | 90/M | No | Left | Yes | Moderate severe (HB Grade 4) | NA | Pneumonia | None | Thorax CT: Intense pneumonia with ground glass opacities | IV moxifloxacin and corticosteroids (dexamethasone and prednisolone) | PR | |
| 2 | None | 4/F | No | Left | No (after 7 days) | Moderate severe (HB Grade 4) | NA | Cough and fever | None | Thorax CT: normal | Oral corticosteroid | CR | |||||
| 3 | None | 17/F | No | Right | Yes | Moderate (HB Grade 3) | NA | Cough, ageusia and anosmia | None | Thorax CT: normal | Favipravir and oral corticosteroid | CR | |||||
| 4 | HTN, DM | 71/F | No | Right | Yes | Moderate severe (HB Grade 4) | NA | Fever, ageusia and anosmia | None | Thorax CT: normal | Favipravir and IV corticosteroid | CR | |||||
| 5 | None | 63/F | No | Left | Yes | Moderate severe (HB Grade 4) | NA | Fever, myalgia, ageusia and anosmia | None | Thorax CT: Mild pneumonia with ground glass appearance | Favipravir and oral corticosteroid | PR | |||||
| 6 | None | 60/F | No | Left | No (after 12 days) | Moderate severe (HB Grade 4) | NA | Fever, ageusia and anosmia | None | Thorax CT: normal | Favipravir and oral corticosteroid | PR | |||||
| 7 | HTN | 65/F | No | Left | Yes | Moderate (HB Grade 3) | NA | Ageusia and anosmia | None | Thorax CT: Mild pneumonia with ground glass opacities | IV corticosteroids | PR | |||||
| 8 | HTN, OSA | 30/M | No | Left | No (after 9 days) | Moderate (HB Grade 3) | NA | ageusia and anosmia | None | Thorax CT: Mild pneumonia with ground glass appearance; brain MRI: normal | Favipravir and oral corticosteroid (methylprednisolone and dexamethasone) | No improvement | |||||
| Engström et al. | Sweden | Case report | 1 | 1 | None | 46/F | No | Left | No (after 26 days) | Tongue deviation to left, inability to wrinkle forehead and left lagophthalmos, drooping left corner of mouth, vocal cord paresis, left‐sided paresis | NA | High fever, cough, dyspnea, dysphagia, and severe headaches | None | CT thorax: bilateral ground glass appearance. MRI brain: some edema in the parotid gland | High‐flow oxygen therapy, dalteparin, IV cefotaxime, oral and IV corticosteroids, and tear substitutes with watch bandages | Significant improvement | |
| Corrêa et al. | Brazil | Case series | 4 | 1 | None | 25/F | No | Right | No (after 2 weeks) | Right‐sided facial muscle weakness and right lagophthalmos | NA | Vertigo, mild dyspnea, and fever | Strabismus in the right eye after right CN6 palsy | Brain MRI: restricted diffusion (right CN6 nucleus) and an asymmetrical enhancement (right CN7) | Oral corticosteroids | CR | |
| 2 | None | 30/F | No | Right | No (after 10 days) | NA | NA | Mild fever and sore throat | None | Brain MRI: enhancement in right CN7 | Oral corticosteroids | CR | |||||
| 3 | OA, AF | 65/M | Yes | Bilateral | No (after 2 weeks) | NA | Protein: elevated; WBC: normal; SARS‐COV: negative | Headache, fever, and generalized myalgia | Lower limbs weakness | Brain MRI: bilateral enhancement in CN7 | IVIg | PR | |||||
| 4 | None | 33/M | No | Bilateral | No (after 2 weeks) | NA | NA | Fever | NA | Brain MRI: enhancement in CN7 | Oral corticosteroids | CR | |||||
| Chan et al. | Canada | Case report | 1 | 1 | None | 58/M | Yes | Bilateral | Yes | Dysarthria, bilateral lagophthalmos, inability to raise eyebrow, wrinkle forehead, smile, and close lips | Protein: elevated; WBC: normal; SARS‐COV: negative | None | Hypertension, tachypnea, paresthesia in his feet, and tachycardia | Chest X‐ray: bilateral infiltrates; CT: bilateral ground‐glass opacities in lung apices; Brain MRI: Bilateral CN7 enhancement | Empiric ceftriaxone, azithromycin and IVIG | PR | |
| Decio et al. | Italy | Correspondence | 1 | 1 | NA | 1.25/F | No | Right | NA | NA | NA | Mild respiratory symptoms, fever, anosmia, and ageusia | None | Brain MRI: right CN7 enhancement | Oral corticosteroids | CR | |
| Ozer et al. | Turkey | Case report | 1 | 1 | NA | 62/F | No | Left | No (after 2 days) | Total paralysis (HB Grade 6) | NA | Fatigue, chills, and myalgia | Sensorineural hearing loss | Brain MRI: CN7 and CN 8 enhancement | Oral corticosteroids, famotidine, oral favipiravir and SQ enoxaparin sodium | PR | |
| Neo et al. | Singapore | Case series | 2 | 1 | NA | 25/M | No | Left | Yes | Severe (HB Grade 5) | NA | None | None | All imaging were unremarkable | Oral corticocorticosteroids, valaciclovir and given eye care advice | CR | |
| 2 | NA | 34/M | No | Right | Yes | Moderate severe (HB Grade 4) | NA | None | None | All imaging were unremarkable | Oral corticocorticosteroids, valaciclovir and given eye care advice | PR | |||||
| Mackenzie et al. | USA | Case report | 1 | 1 | HTN, T2DM | 39/F | Yes | Bilateral | No (after 20 days) | NA | NA | Ageusia, anosmia, headache, myalgias, malaise, and cough | Left arm paresthesia, generalized flaccid areflexia, and inability to walk | NA | Enoxaparin SC, losartan, meperidine IV, antimalarial drug, oral corticosteroids and plasmapheresis | PR | |
| Bastola et al. | Nepal | Case report | 1 | 1 | DM | 48/M | No | Left | No (after 4 days) | Left‐sided facial droop with inability to wrinkle left forehead, raise left eyebrow and left laogphthalmus | NA | Mild dry cough and hyposmia | None | HRCT chest: ground‐glass opacity in the right lower lobe | Regular insulin and other antidiabetic medications, tear plus drops for dry eyes, and IV corticosteroid | Significant improvement with some residual weakness | |
| Hookham et al. | UK | Case report | 1 | 1 | Childhood asthma and HTN | 17/M | No | Right | No (after 1.5 months) | Right‐sided facial droop with right‐sided facial hypoesthesia | NA | Fever, diarrhea, vomiting, mild headache, intermittent right‐sided chest pain, myalgia and lethargy, diaphoretic and conjunctival injection (anterior uveitis) | Pediatric inflammatory multisystem syndrome, tachycardiac, tachypnea, raised blood pressure, palpitations | Brain MRI: minimal increased enhancement of a segment of right CN 7 | IV fluids, broad spectrum antibiotics, oral corticosteroids, tocilizumab, amlodipine (for HTN), aspirin and eye drops | NA | |
| Khedr et al. | Egypt | Case report | 2 | 1 | None | 49/F | Yes | Left | No | Right‐sided deviation of mouth and left lagophthalmos | NA | Fever, dysphagia, and vomiting | Flaccid areflexic quadriplegia, hoarseness of voice, and an impaired cough reflex and stock and glove hypoesthesia | CT chest: bilateral ground‐glass opacities | Plasmapheresis and IVIg | Progressive improvement | |
| 2 | None | 55/F | Yes | Bilateral | No | Bilateral inability to close eyes, with reduced blinking, inability to whistle, protrude the lips or expose the teeth. | NA | Fever, cough, and expectoration | flaccid areflexic quadriplegia, stock and glove hypoesthesia | CT chest: bilateral ground‐glass opacities | IVIg | CR | |||||
| Kumar et al. | India | Case report | 1 | 1 | pregnant and PCOS | 28/F | No | Right | No | Inability to wrinkle right forehead and close right eye, left‐sided deviation of mouth, numbness of the right side of the face and right‐sided drooling | NA | Fever, dysgeusia, and anosmia | Persistently high blood pressure (160/110), generalized weakness | NA | Oral valacyclovir and oral corticosteroid, insulin (for steroid‐induced DM) with physiotherapy and eye protective measures | CR | |
| Aasfara et al. | Morocco | Case report | 1 | 1 | Pregnant | 36/F | Yes | Bilateral | Yes | Moderate severe (HB Grade 4) | protein: elevated; WBC: normal cell count; glucose: normal | Vertigo, nausea, and vomiting | asymmetric numbness in the lower limbs and left fingers, right sensorineural hearing loss, right vestibular areflexia and nystagmus | NA | IVIg and IV corticosteroids | CR of facial palsy. | |
| Paybast et al. | Iran | Case report | 1 | 1 | HTN | 38/M | Yes | Bilateral | Yes | Bilateral facial droop, drooling, and slurred speech | Glucose: normal; WBC: normal; protein: elevated | Band‐like headache, dysphagia, and mild dizziness | quadriparesthesia, decrease in all sensation modalities in four limbs affecting the distal parts up to ankle and elbow joints, tachycardia, blood pressure instability | NA | Plasmapharesis and labetalol (for HTN) | No significant improvement | |
| Bigaut et al. | France | Case report | 2 | 1 | None | 43/M | Yes | Right | No | NA | WBC: normal; protein: elevated | Cough, anosmia, ageusia, and diarrhea | Flaccid paraparesis, generalized areflexia, hypoesthesia, fore limb paresthesia, ataxia, myalgias in legs | Chest CT: bilateral ground‐glass opacities; MRI: CN 3, 5, 6, 7, and 8 neuritis | IVIg | Progressive improvement | |
| 2 | Obesity | 70/M | Yes | Left | No | NA | WBC: normal; protein: elevated | anosmia, ageusia, diarrhea, dyspnea | Flaccid tetraparesis, generalized areflexia, forelimb paresthesia | Chest CT: bilateral moderate ground‐glass opacities | IVIg and physiotherapy | No significant improvement. | |||||
| Ottaviani et al. | Italy | Case report | 1 | 1 | Mild HTN | 66/F | NA | left | Yes | NA | Protein: elevated; rest; normal | Acute fatigue, mild fever, and cough | Paraplegia, transient pruriginous dorsal rash, initial distal weakness in the upper limbs and diffuse areflexia | Lung CT: bilateral ground‐glass opacities | IVIg, lopinavir/ritonavir and antimalarial | NA | |
| Casas et al. | Spain | Case report | 1 | 1 | vWB | 32/M | No | Left | No | Moderate severe (HB Grade 4) | NA | Malaise, fever, dry cough, and headache | None | Brain MRI: asymmetric contrast uptake in a segment of Left CN7 | acetaminophen, metamizole, physiotherapy and ocular hydration | CR. | |
| Hutchins et al. | USA | Case report | 1 | 1 | HTN, prediabetes, Class I obesity | 21/M | Yes | Bilateral | No | Dysarthria, hypogeusia, and facial numbness | Protein: mildly elevated; WBC: normal; SARS‐COV: negative | Fever, cough, dyspnea, diarrhea, nausea, headache, and sinonasal congestion, dizziness, hypogeusia | Tachycardic, bilateral lower extremity weakness, bilateral upper extremity paranesthesia, Grade 4/5 weakness in the deltoids and hip flexors bilaterally, diffuse areflexia | Chest X‐ray: increased bilateral air space opacities; brain MRI: abnormal bilateral enhancement of CN 6 and 7, alongside right CN 3 | Plasmapheresis | Nonsignificant improvement | |
| Abolmaali et al. | Iran | Case series | 3 | 1 | HTN | 88/F | Yes | Left | Yes | Left lagophthalmos and neck flexion weakness | Protein: elevated; rest: normal | Fatigue | Quadriparesis, low back and thigh pain, impaired proprioception | CT: pneumonia with a ground‐glass pattern | Plasmapharesis, intubation, corticosteroids, antimalarial and lopinavir/ritonavir | No significant improvement. | |
| 2 | NA | 47/M | Yes | Bilateral | No | Weakness of neck flexors and dysarthria | Protein: elevated; rest: normal | Fatigue, dyspnea, and cough | Generalized hyporeflexia, urinary retention, quadriparesis, low back pain | CT: ground‐glass opacities | Plasmapharesis, intubation, corticosteroids, antimalarial and lopinavir/ritonavir | Death | |||||
| 3 | NA | 58/M | Yes | NA | No | NA | Protein: elevated; rest: normal | Progressive dyspnea, dry cough, and dizziness | Muscle weakness, gait disturbance and areflexia. | CT: ground‐glass opacities | Plasmapharesis, IVIg, remdesivir, antimalarial, favipiravir and lopinavir/ritonavir | Death | |||||
| Oke et al. | USA | Case report | 1 | 1 | history of nephrolithiasis | 36/M | No | Right | No | Moderate severe (HB Grade 4) | NA | Fever and body aches | NA | Brain MRI: asymmetric enhancement of the right CN7 | Oral valacyclovir, corticosteroid, eye patch and artificial tears | Significant improvement | |
| Derollez et al. | France | Case report | 1 | 1 | Overweight | 57/F | NA | Left | No | NA | NA | Fatigue, myalgia, chills, and moderate cough | NA | Chest X‐ray: infiltrates | Ocular protection | CR | |
| Hasibi et al. | Iran | Case report | 1 | 1 | Class 1 obesity | 52/M | No | Right | No | Severe (HB Grade 5) | NA | Fever, malaise, dry cough, and anorexia | NA | CT: multiple bilateral peripheral ground glass opacities | Oral and corticosteroid, favipiravir, remdesivir, arbidol and NSAID | CR | |
| Taouihar et al | Morocco | Case report | 2 | 1 | DM, CML | 39/M | No | Right | Yes | Facial asymmetry, dysarthria, and difficulty chewing | NA | Dyspnea | NA | NA | Azithromycin, zinc, vitamin C, oral corticosteroid, preventive anticoagulation | CR of facial palsy | |
| 2 | DM, HTN | 57/M | No | Right | Yes | Dysarthria, facial asymmetry, swallowing disorder, and left‐sided deviation of mouth | NA | Dyspnea | NA | NA | Azithromycin, zinc, vitamin C, oral corticosteroid, and preventive anticoagulation | Significant improvement | |||||
| Kaplan et al. | USA | Case report | 1 | 1 | DM | 48/F | No | Left | No | Asymmetric forehead folds, dry eye, inability to raise the left eyebrow and left facial droop | NA | Fever, chills, headaches, fatigue, myalgia, and weakness | NA | CT: bilateral ground‐glass opacities | Oral corticosteroids, valacyclovir, and doxycycline | Significant improvement | |
| Kerstens et al. | Belgium | Case report | 1 | 1 | NA | 27/M | No | Bilateral | Yes | Severe (HB Grade 5) | IgG: elevated; rest: normal | Ageusia | None | MRI: bilateral CN7 contrast enhancement | Valaciclovir, artificial tears and oral corticosteroids | CR | |
| Kakumoto et al. | Japan | Case report | 1 | 1 | NA | 22/M | Yes | Bilateral | No | Dysarthria | Protein: elevated; rest: normal | Fever and dysphagia | Tetraparesis, hypesthesia of extremities, dysuria, inability to defecate, dyschezia, sinus arrythmia. | Head MRI: bilateral CN7 contrast enhancement | IVIG, intubated and managed on a ventilator | CR | |
| Al‐Mashdali et al. | Qatar | Case report | 1 | 1 | Atrial septal defect | 21/M | No | Right | No | NA | NA | Fever, cough, watery diarrhea, vomiting, conjunctivitis, and abdominal pain | Acute myocarditis | CT: Bilateral ground‐glass opacities and pleural effusion | IV corticosteroids and ocular lubricant | Significant improvement | |
| Judge et al. | USA | Case report | 1 | 1 | NA | 64/M | No | Bilateral | No | Dysarthria and subjective facial paresthesia | WBC: elevated; protein: elevated; Glucose: normal | Cough, fever, and chills | None | NA | NA | Progressive improvement | |
| Tran et al. | USA | Case report | 1 | 1 | DM | 42/M | Yes | Right | Yes | Right‐sided hypesthesia, dysarthria, diplopia, ptosis, and inability to raise eyebrows or smile | protein: elevated; WBC: normal; glucose: elevated | None | Right lower extremity weakness | Chest X‐ray: bibasilar infiltrates; CT: ground‐glass opacities | IV corticosteroids, electrolyte replacement for hypokalemia, IVIg, physical, occupational, and speech therapy | CR | |
| Silveira et al. | Brazil | Case report | 1 | 1 | DM, HTN | 65/M | No | Left | Yes | Facial asymmetry, otalgia, and ophthalmoplegia | NA | Fever, dry cough, and dyspnea | Clear left eye proptosis and blindness, otorrhea and complete hearing loss on the left and partial hearing on the right | Initial CT: erosion of the anterior wall of the left external ear conduct and left mandible condyle; brain MRI: compression of left CN 2, 3, 4 and 6 | IV Meropenem, IV vancomycin, IV Ciprofloxacin, and mastoidectomy | Death | |
| Liberatore et al. | Italy | Case report | 1 | 1 | HTN and history of testicular seminoma | 49/M | Yes | Left | No | NA | Glucose: normal; protein: slight elevation; WBC: normal | Fever, cough | Symmetric weakness in the upper limbs with flaccid tone, reduced tendon reflexes, and respiratory insufficiency; gastroparesis, alternating episodes of tachy‐/bradyarrhythmia, and frequent hypertensive crises) | Chest CT: multifocal ground‐glass opacities; Brain MRI: normal | Antimalarial, lopinavir/ritonavir, and ceftriaxone | NA | |
| Shinde et al. | India | Case report | 1 | 1 | HTN | 64/M | No | Right | Yes | Severe (HB Grade 5) | NA | None | Macular erythematous rash along zygomatic arch, maxillary and mandibular division of trigeminal nerve | Chest X‐ray: normal | Eye care, acyclovir, corticosteroid, and methyl cobalamin | PR | |
| Ochoa‐Fernández et al. | Spain | Case report | 1 | 1 | None | 6/F | No | Left | Yes | Moderate (HB Grade 3) | NA | None | None | NA | Eye protection and oral corticosteroids | CR | |
| Zain et al. | USA | Case report | 1 | 1 | None | 2/F | No | Right | Yes | Right lagophthalmos, ptosis, and drooping of corner of mouth, flattening of the nasiolabial fold, dryness of the eye and tearing | Glucose: normal; protein: normal; WBC: normal | None | EBV coinfection and contact dermatitis | Brain MRI: abnormal enhancement of the canalicular segment of right CN7 | IV corticosteroids | CR | |
| Ribeiro et al. | Brazil | Case report | 1 | 1 | None | 26/M | No | Right | No (on 8th day from first onset of symptoms) | Right facial weakness | NA | Cough and fever | None | Chest CT: multiple bilateral ground‐glass opacities and some superimposed intralobular septal thickening; Brain MRI: enhancement of the right CN7 | NA | NA | |
| González‐Castro et al. | Spain | Case series | 2 | 1 | Obesity | 40/F | No | Left | No (after 2nd day of ward admission) | Moderate (HB Grade 3) | NA | NA | None | MRI: poorly defined contrast uptake in the left hemifacial/malar subcutaneous region | High‐flow oxygen therapy | NA | |
| 2 | DM, smoker and Parkinson's disease patient | 65/M | No | Left | No | Moderate (HB Grade 3) | NA | NA | None | NA | High‐flow oxygen therapy | NA | |||||
| Pelea et al. | Germany | Case report | 1 | 1 | HTN, hypothereosis | 56/F | yes | Bilateral | No | Severe (HB Grade 5) | Protein: elevated; glucose: normal; WBC: elevated; SARS‐COV: negative | Dry cough, mild fever, and a general weakness | Tingling sensation in all fingertips and toes, flaccid tetraparesis, arreflexia and tachycardia | Chest CT: leaky infiltrates in the right lower lobe | IVIG and Plasmapharesis | PR | |
| Karimi‐Galougahi | Iran | Letter to the editor | 1 | 1 | None | 60/M | No | Right | No | Right‐sided facial nerve palsy, involving mouth, eye, and forehead | NA | Fever, cough, and dyspnea | None | Chest CT: ground‐glass opacitiesAbbr | Remdesivir, corticosteroid, and oxygen therapy | NA | |
Abbreviations: CR, complete recovery; CT, computed tomography; IVIg, intravenous immunoglobulin; MRI, magnetic resonance imaging; NA, not applicable; PR, partial recovery.