An Uncommon Diagnosis of Necrotizing Mastoiditis Presenting as Bell’s Palsy: A Case Report

Authors

Parker Maddox, Thomas Jefferson UniversityFollow
Claire Abramoff, Thomas Jefferson UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

11-8-2023

Comments

This article is the author's final published in Clinical Practice and Cases in Emergency Medicine, Volume 7, Issue 4, 2023, Pg. 257 - 261.

The published version is available at https://doi.org/10.5811/cpcem.1263. Copyright © 2023 Maddox et al.

Abstract

Introduction: The benign nature of Bell’s palsy has led to a lack of a standardized work-up, and dangerous underlying mimics are at risk of being missed. Case

Report: An 84-year-old female with a history of vertigo presented to the emergency department with a left-sided facial droop consistent with Bell’s palsy. After further work-up, the patient was diagnosed with bilateral necrotizing mastoiditis.

Conclusion: Unilateral facial weakness involving the forehead and palpebral fissures is often diagnosed as idiopathic Bell’s palsy. Various pathologies can present with unilateral facial weakness, and the differential needs to remain broad.

Recommended Citation

Maddox, Parker and Abramoff, Claire, "An Uncommon Diagnosis of Necrotizing Mastoiditis Presenting as Bell’s Palsy: A Case Report" (2023). Student Papers, Posters & Projects. Paper 127.
https://jdc.jefferson.edu/student_papers/127

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Language

English