BACKGROUND: Functional evaluation of the facial movements in patients with facial paralysis following a stroke. AIM: To evaluate the function of the facial muscles of patients after central facial paralysis following a stroke. METHOD: Nine patients referred by the Neurology Service were evaluated. The evaluation focused on spontaneous, voluntary and reflex movements. RESULTS: Reflex and voluntary movement of the eyelid and forehead were preserved in all patients. However, spontaneous and voluntary movements of the lips and nose were limited according to the location and extension of lesion. CONCLUSION: The symptoms of central facial paralysis, in which paralysis only of voluntary movements of the lower two-thirds of the face is expected, occurred in the minority of the patients.
BACKGROUND: Functional evaluation of the facial movements in patients with facial paralysis following a stroke. AIM: To evaluate the function of the facial muscles of patients after central facial paralysis following a stroke. METHOD: Nine patients referred by the Neurology Service were evaluated. The evaluation focused on spontaneous, voluntary and reflex movements. RESULTS: Reflex and voluntary movement of the eyelid and forehead were preserved in all patients. However, spontaneous and voluntary movements of the lips and nose were limited according to the location and extension of lesion. CONCLUSION: The symptoms of central facial paralysis, in which paralysis only of voluntary movements of the lower two-thirds of the face is expected, occurred in the minority of the patients.