ArticleThe journal of international advanced otology2024
Has Coranavirus Disease 2019 Changed the Incidence and Outcome of Bell's Palsy?
Article in The journal of international advanced otology, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed, 1 citations in OpenAlex.
- Delayed Facial Nerve Palsy after Vestibular Schwannoma Surgery in the COVID-19 Pandemic.International archives of otorhinolaryngology · 2026Article
- Acute Onset of Peripheral Facial Nerve Palsy in Children: An Overview.Pediatric reports · 2024Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundObjectives: (1) To determine whether the incidence of Bell's Palsy (BP) increased during the pandemic. (2) To investigate whether the outcomes of patients with BP and COVID-19 infection or vaccination differ from those in the pre-pandemic era.
methodsPatients with BP were studied in 2 periods retrospectively (March 2021-March 2022 and August 2018-August 2019). A prospective study from March 2021 to March 2022 was also performed. Primary outcome was grade ≤Ⅱ in the House-Brackmann (HB) and/or >70 in the Sunnybrook facial grading system (SFGS) scales at the 12-week visit. Reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay-based SARS-CoV-2 immuonoglobulin G (IgG) test (blood) were measured.
resultsAbout 162 and 196 patients with BP were identified between March 2021 and March 2022 and August 2018 and August 2019, respectively. Forty-seven patients (29%) entered the prospective study; 85% had HB grades I or II, while 92% had an SFGS score of 71-100 at the last visit. Only 3 patients (6.5%) had a positive PCR during the initial episode, whereas 35 patients (77%) had positive IgG SARS-CoV-2. There was no association between positive PCR and facial function outcomes. Of the 162 patients, 105 (67%) had received COVID-19 vaccine. In 23 of them (22%), the paralysis appeared within the first 30 days after a vaccine dose.
conclusionCoronavirus disease 2019 did not increase the incidence of BP. A direct association between the coronavirus and BP outcome cannot be established. The considerable number of patients developing BP within the first month suggests a possible association between COVID-19 vaccines and BP.
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