Chronic facial paralysis is a devastating condition with severe functional and emotional consequences. The current surgical armamentarium permits the predictable reestablishment of a protective blink as well as good resting symmetry. Yet the ultimate goal of symmetric, spontaneous emotional expression remains elusive despite significant progress in the areas of peripheral nerve grafting and fre...

BACKGROUND Innervated free muscle transfer using the gracilis muscle or temporalis myoplasty has been successfully utilized for facial reanimation in chronic facial palsy. These techniques are less suited to immediate facial reconstruction in the setting of radical parotidectomy, in which the complexity of the defect, patient age, postoperative radiotherapy, and limited life expectancy pose par...

Various facial reanimation procedures can be performed for treating patients with chronic facial nerve paralysis. The radiologic imaging features of static and dynamic techniques are reviewed in this article with clinical correlation, including brow lift, eyelid weights and springs, gracilis free flaps, fascia lata grafts, temporalis flaps, and Gore-Tex suspension slings. Although the anatomic ...

Facial nerve disorders encompass a broad spectrum of dysfunction, ranging from subtle dynamic facial asymmetry to complete, dense paralysis. Facial nerve regeneration following injury can vary greatly and may result in hypofunction (persistent weakness or poor excursion of facial muscles), hyperfunction (hypertonicity, spasm), or aberrant regeneration (synkinesis). The impact of a facial nerve ...

s: Management of facial paralysis varies according to the cause, the extent and type of paralysis (total vs partial, unilateral vs bilateral) as well as the duration of paralysis. Facial nerve reconstruction including restitution of the facial symmetry and facial expression is a great surgical challenge. Considering the often disappointing results achieved with the currently available technique...

We have created an alternative method for facial reanimation. This new surgical procedure involves masseter muscle transposition combined with tensor fascia lata, and the zygomatic arch is used as a trochlea to achieve reconstruction of inferior facial paralysis. This method was used on five patients with facial palsy after excision of a malignant parotid tumour. Wide skin defect exposing the m...

1. Furukawa H, Saito A, Mol W, Sekido M, Sasaki S, Yamamoto Y. Double innervation occurs in the facial mimetic muscles after facial-hypoglossal end-to-side neural repair: rat model for neural supercharge concept. J Plast Reconstr Aesthet Surg. 2008;61(3):257–64. 2. Terzis JK, Wang W, Zhao Y. Effect of axonal load on the functional and aesthetic outcomes of the cross-facial nerve graft procedure...