Is permanent congenital facial palsy caused by birth trauma?

• Published in: Archives of disease in childhood Vol. 74; no. 1; pp. 56 - 58
• Main Authors: Laing, J H, Harrison, D H, Jones, B M, Laing, G J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health 01.01.1996; BMJ; BMJ Publishing Group LTD
• Subjects: Biological and medical sciences; Birth injuries; Birth Injuries - complications; Birth Weight; Body Weight; Case-Control Studies; Delivery. Postpartum. Lactation; Disorders; Extraction, Obstetrical - adverse effects; Facial paralysis; Facial Paralysis - congenital; Facial Paralysis - etiology; Female; Gynecology. Andrology. Obstetrics; Humans; Infant, Newborn; Male; Medical sciences; Outcome Measures; Parity; Pediatrics; Population studies; Pregnancy; Retrospective Studies; Risk Factors; Human; Nervous system diseases; Prognosis; Motor system disorder; Facial paralysis; Facial nerve; Sequela; Birth; Trauma; Cranial nerve disease; Newborn; Risk factor; ENT disease; Evolution; Delivery; Forceps
• ISSN: 0003-9888; 1468-2044; 1468-2044
• DOI: 10.1136/adc.74.1.56

OBJECTIVE: To study the relation between traumatic birth and the development of permanent facial palsy in the newborn. DESIGN: Retrospective case control study of children with 'congenital' facial palsy. SETTING: Two tertiary referral centres for patients with facial palsy. SUBJECTS: 61 children with established facial palsy. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Odds ratios of recognised factors for birth injury: maternal primiparity, high birth weight, and the use of obstetric forceps at delivery. RESULTS: 13.2% of those studied had forceps assisted delivery compared to 10.2% in the normal population (odds ratio 1.34; 95% confidence intervals 0.61 to 2.97) 39.6% were born to primiparae compared to a national rate of 36.7% (1.13; 0.65 to 1.96) and only 18.9% weighed more than 3500 g at birth (0.37; 0.19 to 0.74). CONCLUSIONS: There is no association between the development of permanent 'congenital' facial palsy and recognised risk factors for birth injury. These data suggest an intrauterine rather than a traumatic aetiology.