Bell’s palsy has been associated with various other viral agents. Its evidence in patients with COVID-19 signifies the possibility of association between Bell’s Palsy and Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV2). The objective of this systematic review was to evaluate the number of published cases of Bell’s palsy as the only major neurological manifestation in patients with COVID-19 from March 2020 to December 2021 and to investigate the association of SARS-CoV2 and Bell’s palsy. A systematic review of the published English literature was performed using an electronic search in PubMed / Medline, Scopus, Research gate, Research square and Google Scholar databases, using keywords like ‘COVID-19’ OR/AND ‘SARS-CoV-2’, OR/AND ‘Bell’s palsy’, OR/AND ‘Facial nerve palsy’, OR/AND ‘Neurological’, OR/AND ‘Manifestation’. Search strategy revealed 32 relevant publications with a total of 46 patients. Bell’s palsy was the initial manifestation in 37% cases and in 63% cases it developed after COVID-19 symptoms. 71.7% cases showed complete recovery and 21.7% showed only partial relief from BP. The authors concluded that although the number of documented cases in this research are not much, but evidence of Bell’s palsy as the only major neurological manifestation in patients with COVID-19 signifies an important clinical finding and the possibility of another viral aetiology of BP. More evidence is needed to establish the exact co-relation between these two entities.
Gupta S, Jawanda MK. Surge of Bell’s Palsy in the era of COVID-19; Systematic review. Eur J Neurol. 2022 Apr 28.
doi: 10.1111/ene.15371.