BLINK REFLEX IN FACIAL PARESIS

A clinical study was made of electrically elicited blink reflexes in facial paresis. Nineteen patients of facial paresis of various origins such as Bell's palsy, Ramsay-Hunt's syndrome or others were subjected to the long-term serial study and the results obtained were as follows: 1) If the early component (R1) of the reflex response was elicited within two weeks after the onset of the paresis, or it appeared within 4 weeks after the onset and its latency recovered to the normal range within the following several weeks, the prognosis was found to be good in general. 2) As a recovery sign of the reflex response pattern, the first appearence of the late component (R2) was the most important in the majority of cases, and a significant relationship was observed between enhancement of the amplitude of the spike potential and the degree of functional recovery of the mimic muscles. 3) In most patients with synkinesis, R1 was recorded simultaneously in both orbicularis oculi and oris muscles on the same side. 4) In those patients in which R1 first appeared over 6 weeks after the onset of the disease and there was delayed reconvalecense in its latency, typical synkinesis was frequently observed.