Acute Myeloid Leukemia with Initial Presentation of Facial Palsy and Exophthalmos.

Facial palsy is a relatively common disease and most of the patients have good outcome. The incidence of facial palsy is 15~40 per 100,000 inhabitants. The incidence of facial palsy in children is relatively low. Bell’s palsy is the most common cause of facial palsy, the incidence of Bell’s palsy is 20.2 per 100,000 populations in United Kingdom. However, some unremarkable initial presentation of facial palsy, mimicking Bell’s palsy, is caused by a specific disease. We reported a 2-year-8-month-old girl with initial presentation of unilateral facial palsy and exophthalmos followed by rapid progression to bilateral side. The patient was previously diagnosed as Bell’s palsy and was treated with steroids, and ultimately proven to have acute myeloid leukemia (AML). This rare presentation of acute myeloid leukemia should be kept in mind as a possibility in a patient with facial palsy and exophthalmos.