Publication details
PCR diagnostika herpetických virů u pacientů s akutní "idiopatickou" parézou lícního nervu
| Title in English | Herpesvirus PCR diagnostics in acute idiopathic Bell's palsy patients |
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| Authors | |
| Year of publication | 2008 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Česká a slovenská neurologie a neurochirurgie |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Field | Neurology, neurosurgery, neurosciences |
| Keywords | Facial nerve; Bell's palsy; herpes simplex virus; varicella-zoster virus; Ramsay Hunt syndrome; polymerase chain reaction |
| Description | INTRODUCTION: Bell's palsy represents about 70 % of all acute facial palsies. Recently, there is an increasing evidence of herpes simplex virus (HSV) type I or II or varicella-zoster virus (VZV) reactivation as the main cause of idiopathic facial palsy. With respect to high proportion of seropositive individuals in general population, the reactivation of herpes viruses can't easily be verified by serological methods and PCR (polymerase chain reaction) seems to be more promising for this purpose. THE AIM of the study was to evaluate the possibility to verify the reactivation of herpes viruses in the patients with Bell's palsy using the PCR examination of serum and CSF (cerebrospinal fluid). PATIENTS AND METHODS: PCR detection of herpes viruses was performed in CSF and serum samples of 25 pacients with acute facial palsy. In all these patients, common causes of facial palsy were excluded (i.e., by normal CSF examination results) and the paresis was classified as idiopathic in all the cases (14 women, 11 men, mean age 44.72 +- 17.64, range 18-77). One patient with Ramsay Hunt syndrome was also included (man, 72 years old). HSV type I and II were examined in all patients, in the Ramsay Hunt patient and 11 of the idiopathic cases PCR detection of VZV was also performed. RESULTS: VZV DNA was found only in CSF (but not in serum) of the Ramsay Hunt patient. In all the idiopathic cases, PCR detection of both HSV and VZV was negative in serum and CSF. Conclusion: Our findings show poor diagnostic validity of PCR detection of herpes viruses in serum and CSF in patients with acute idiopathic facial palsy and normal CSF cytological findings. These results probably don't disapprove the assumption of the reactivation of herpesviruses in Bell's palsy. More likely, they suggest that the rectivation is only local, limited to the facial nerve and thus not detectable in CSF. |
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