Electrodiagnostic testing in acute facial palsy: Outcomes and comparison of methods

Abstract

Objective: To study the relationship between various electrodiagnostic modalities in acute facial palsy. Setting: Academic tertiary care center. Patients: One-hundred and six patients who presented with traumatic or non-traumatic acute facial paralysis (House-Brackmann, HB, grade 6/6) between 2008 and 2017 and underwent acute electrodiagnostic testing. Intervention: Electroneurography (ENoG) using nasolabial fold (NLF) or nasalis muscle (NM) methods, and volitional electromyography (EMG) in all patients. Main outcome measures: Percent degeneration of ipsilateral facial nerve compound muscle action potentials (CMAP) on NLF- and NM-ENoG, presence or absence of muscle unit potentials (MUPs) on EMG. Results: Extent of facial nerve degeneration measured by NLF- and NM-ENoG were highly correlated (r = 0.85, P