Facial nerve paralysis following pediatric cardiac surgery.

A newborn female diagnosed with transposition of the great vessels with restrictive ventricular septal defect presented left facial peripheral nerve paralysis following anatomical surgery correction (arterial switch) by cardiopulmonary bypass. We have not found any causal factor either in the anesthesia or postoperative period. The electromyogram presented signs of peripheral nerve impairment, and the cerebral echography and electroencephalogram were normal. The facial nerve paralysis was almost recovered seven weeks after surgery. This is the first pediatric patient reported with peripheral facial nerve paralysis after cardiac surgery.