This is a disease of the eye found in patients who have had their lenses removed for cataract with placement of a plastic replacement lens. There is nothing that can be offered in the way of treatment for these patients. This is an idiopathic paralysis of the face which typically occurs in young adults. Most cases will clear spontaneously in six months. However, some patients never completely recover.
Steroids are the only treatment currently used and results are inconclusive as to their benefit.
This rapid remission is unheard of in the usual clinical case. A larger study of 79 patients, completed by Racic, et al, was published by the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society in 1997. As leprosy is a tremendous financial burden in much of the world, further research must be carried out to define what role, if any, hyperbaric oxygen may play in this disorder. Clinical Hyperbaric Medicine . All Rights Reserved.