SynthesisActa neurologica Belgica2022
Epidemiology, clinical features, and treatment modalities of facial nerve palsy in COVID-19 patients: a systematic review.
Synthesis in Acta neurologica Belgica, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 7 citations in OpenAlex.
- Facial Nerve Palsy Amid the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic: A Pooled Analysis.Journal of otolaryngology - head & neck surgery = Le Journal d'oto-rhino-laryngologie et de chirurgie cervico-facialePooled it
- Delayed Facial Nerve Palsy after Vestibular Schwannoma Surgery in the COVID-19 Pandemic.International archives of otorhinolaryngology · 2026Article
- Increasing Incidence of Facial Nerve Disorders in the United States from 2007 to 2022.The Laryngoscope · 2025Article
- Analytical review of facial nerve palsy following SARS-CoV-2 vaccination: comprehensive assessment.European archives of oto-rhino-laryngology : official journal of the European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (EUFOS) : affiliated with the German Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology - Head and Neck Surgery · 2025Review
- Neuromuscular Disorders Associated With COVID-19.Neuroscience insights · 2023Review
- An online survey on clinical characteristics of otologic symptoms linked to COVID-19 infection.Frontiers in public health · 2023Article
- Molecular and Cellular Mechanisms Underlying Neurological and Neuropsychological Manifestations of COVID-19.Innovations in clinical neuroscienceReview
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors at 7 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is responsible for a wide variety of multi-system clinical features. Facial nerve palsy (FNP) is identified as one of the neurological complications of the virus. This work aims to systematically review the clinical picture, laboratory/imaging findings, treatment options, and prognostic factors of FNP in COVID-19 patients.
methodsUsing six online databases, a search was conducted to include all articles with patients infected with COVID-19 and presenting with unilateral or bilateral FNP. Screening for eligibility and data extraction were done by three and four independent reviewers, respectively. Descriptive analyses and data visualizations were done using Google Sheets. Survival analysis and Kaplan-Meier plotting were done by R software.
resultsThe data from 22 studies included 32 patients who were infected with COVID-19 and presented with clinical features of FNP. Fourteen patients were male while 18 were female. FNP affected 29 patients unilaterally and 3 patients bilaterally. The imaging findings confirmed that complications of FNP were COVID-19 related. Additionally, antivirals combined with steroids had the lowest median time (21, IQR = 8) to clinical improvement compared to steroid-only (30, IQR = 15) and antiviral-only (33, IQR = 3.5) treatments.
conclusionThis study has shown a potential correlation between the increased incidence of FNP and COVID-19. We have also found that combining antivirals with steroids may have better outcomes in patients with FNP and COVID-19 although the evidence to support this claim is not strong enough. Further studies are required to assess the extent of linkage between the two conditions and how to properly manage FNP when encountered in COVID-19 patients.
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What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.