[Clinical features and prognosis of facial palsy and hearing loss in patients with Ramsay Hunt syndrome].

Clinical studies were performed on 325 patients with Ramsay Hunt syndrome who were treated in the Facial Nerve Clinic at Ehime University Hospital between 1976 and 1995. The clinical manifestations of Ramsay Hunt syndrome were various. Three major symptoms, auricular vesicles, facial paralysis and vestibulo-cochlear dysfunction, were found in 57.6% of the patients although these symptoms did not always appear simultaneously. Auricular vesicles appeared before (19.3%), during (46.5%), or after (34.2%) the onset of facial paralysis. Hearing loss was observed subjectively in only 20% but objectively in 48.2% of the patients. Hearing loss appeared before (34.3%), during (34.3%), or after (31.3%) the onset of facial paralysis. Complete recovery from facial paralysis was achieved in 52.4% of the patients. Good recovery of the facial nerve function was achieved in patients who had zoster vesicles or vestibulo-cochlear dysfunction preceding the development of facial paralysis. Complete recovery of hearing was also achieved in 45.4% of the patients, and the recovery was better in patients having light hearing loss, less than 35dB. The patients younger than 16 years old showed better recovery from both facial paralysis and hearing loss than the patients older than 60 years. Glossopharyngeal nerve or vagal nerve paralysis concomitant with facial paralysis was found in 8 (2.5%) patients. The outcome of glossopharyngeal nerve paralysis was good but that of the vagal nerve was poor.