Study of conduction velocity of facial nerve in patients with Bell palsy.

Objective:To explore the relationship between facial nerve conduction velocity(NCV)of ,the course of disease and clinical prognosis in patients with Bell palsy.Methods:Both the normal and affected lateral facial nerve NCV was detected in 68 patients with Bell palsy in different disease courses and compared with that of 10 controls Results:No significant difference P0 05)in the NCV was found among control group,the normal and the affected sides of patients with the course of disease no more than 7days,while over 7days,significant difference occurred(P0 01) If recovered completely within one month,the above difference disappeared (P0 05),otherwise,significant differences would remain(P0 01).Significant difference of the NCV was found between different recovery groups of patients with Bell palsy (P0 01).The slower the NCV,the more time of facial nerve function recovery was needed.Conclusion:The NCV mignt be an effective index to evaluate the prognosis of patients with Bell palsy.