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Case Report

Facial Palsy at the Onset of SARS-CoV-2 Infection. A Case Report

by
Victoria Bîrluţiu
1,2,
Rareş Mircea Bîrluţiu
3,*,
Alin Iulian Feiereisz
1,2 and
Elena Simona Dobriţoiu
1,2
1
Faculty of Medicine Sibiu, Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, Romania
2
County Clinical Emergency Hospital, 2A Lucian Blaga street, 550169 Sibiu, Romania
3
FOIȘOR Clinical Hospital of Orthopedics, Traumatology, and Osteoarticular TB, 35-37 Ferdinand boulevard, District 2, 021382 Bucharest, Romania
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
GERMS 2023, 13(1), 65-71; https://doi.org/10.18683/germs.2023.1368
Submission received: 18 July 2022 / Revised: 15 January 2023 / Accepted: 31 January 2023 / Published: 31 March 2023

Abstract

Introduction SARS-CoV-2 infection has been associated with an increased number of deaths, due to severe respiratory damage, cardiovascular impairment, acute renal failure, and also neurological injury, including stroke, which is most commonly responsible for death. These are elements that determine patients to seek medical advice. Case report This is a case report of a female Caucasian patient, aged 65 years, with type 2 diabetes mellitus on metformin 1000 mg twice/day, and hypertension, who presented to the emergency department with one day history of left orbital hyperlacrimation and chewing and swallowing difficulty. On physical examination there was a decreased blink reflex, flattened nasolabial fold, and drooping left corner of the mouth, with left conjunctival hyperemia, and a present corneal reflex. Motion limited head CT and MRI revealed no pathological changes suggestive for the appearance of paresis. The patient was transferred to the Department of Infectious Diseases after laboratory confirmation of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Under treatment, improvement of paresis after three days was observed, with minimal asymmetry left five days after admission. A reassessment one month after discharge revealed complete recovery of the paresis, physical asthenia, and headache, in the context of long-COVID syndrome. Conclusions The appearance of paresis may be a consequence of the direct action of the virus on the nervous system, of hypercoagulability, or, later, of an immune mechanism. The case presented is judged as an early, direct action of the virus on the central nervous system, the respiratory symptoms were minimized by the patient at the time of presentation.
Keywords: SARS-CoV-2 infection; facial paresis; COVID-19 SARS-CoV-2 infection; facial paresis; COVID-19

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MDPI and ACS Style

Bîrluţiu, V.; Bîrluţiu, R.M.; Feiereisz, A.I.; Dobriţoiu, E.S. Facial Palsy at the Onset of SARS-CoV-2 Infection. A Case Report. GERMS 2023, 13, 65-71. https://doi.org/10.18683/germs.2023.1368

AMA Style

Bîrluţiu V, Bîrluţiu RM, Feiereisz AI, Dobriţoiu ES. Facial Palsy at the Onset of SARS-CoV-2 Infection. A Case Report. GERMS. 2023; 13(1):65-71. https://doi.org/10.18683/germs.2023.1368

Chicago/Turabian Style

Bîrluţiu, Victoria, Rareş Mircea Bîrluţiu, Alin Iulian Feiereisz, and Elena Simona Dobriţoiu. 2023. "Facial Palsy at the Onset of SARS-CoV-2 Infection. A Case Report" GERMS 13, no. 1: 65-71. https://doi.org/10.18683/germs.2023.1368

APA Style

Bîrluţiu, V., Bîrluţiu, R. M., Feiereisz, A. I., & Dobriţoiu, E. S. (2023). Facial Palsy at the Onset of SARS-CoV-2 Infection. A Case Report. GERMS, 13(1), 65-71. https://doi.org/10.18683/germs.2023.1368

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