Early diagnosis of zoster sine herpete and antiviral therapy for the treatment of facial palsy

Furuta, Y. MD
Ohtani, F. MD
Mesuda, Y. MD
Fukuda, S. MD
Inuyama, Y. MD

From the Department of Otolaryngology, Hokkaido University School of Medicine, Sapporo, Japan.

Received March 6, 2000.

Accepted in final form April 28, 2000.

Supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research, Ministry of Education, Science, and Culture (Japan), and by The Akiyama Foundation.

Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Yasushi Furuta, Department of Otolaryngology, Hokkaido University School of Medicine, Kita 15, Nishi 7, Kita-ku, Sapporo 060-8638, Japan; e-mail: [email protected]

Neurology 55(5):p 708-710, September 12, 2000.

Article abstract

The effect of antiviral agents on recovery from facial palsy in patients with zoster sine herpete (ZSH; varicella zoster virus reactivation without zoster) has not been evaluated because ZSH is difficult to diagnose early after onset. In this study, all 13 patients who received acyclovir-prednisone treatment within 7 days of onset, as confirmed by a positive PCR result, showed complete recovery. PCR-based early diagnosis of ZSH and antiviral therapy elicited an excellent outcome for recovery from facial palsy due to ZSH.