Taste sense in patients with hemifacial spasm.

In the cerebellopontine angle cistern, the nervus intermedius (NI) runs close to the motor division of the facial nerve (FN). A vascular loop compressing the FN in patients with hemifacial spasm (HFS) can thus also affect the NI. However, to our knowledge, taste has not been investigated in patients with HFS. In this pilot study, we assessed the sense of taste quantitatively in 10 female patients with HFS using filter paper strips impregnated with four taste qualities (sweet, sour, salty, and bitter) at four concentrations. The taste score did not differ between the ipsilateral and contralateral sides. The taste score for salty on the ipsilateral side increased with disease duration. Our findings suggest that a vascular loop compressing the FN does not affect the function of the NI. Further studies with greater numbers of patients are needed to confirm our results.