Objectives: The aims of this study were to verify the characteristics of zoster sine herpete (ZSH) causing facial palsy and the effects of different treatments and to confirm the difference from other etiologies. Methods: From March 2010 to March 2011, a prospective study was performed on patients with ZSH with facial palsy. Patients were divided into a steroid-treated group and a steroid-antiviral combination group, and then the effects according to regimen of treatment were prospectively analyzed. Last, the difference between the ZSH group and patients diagnosed with Bell palsy and Ramsay Hunt syndrome in the same study period was confirmed retrospectively. Results: Forty-five patients were diagnosed as having ZSH. Significant improvement was not observed in the ZSH group regardless of the treatment regimen during a 3-week period (P <.05). In patients with ZSH with accompanying typical pain, significant continuous improvement after 6 weeks was observed in patients with combination therapy (P <.05). Compared with patients with Bell palsy and Ramsay Hunt syndrome, there was a significant difference in recovery rate between patients with ZSH (accompanying pain) and those with Bell palsy (89.9%) (P <.05). Conclusion: The initiation of recovery in ZSH started later than that in other peripheral palsies, and slower recovery was shown in patients with ZSH with pain compared with those with Bell palsy. Steroid-antiviral combination therapy was a more effective regimen for treatment compared with steroid-only treatment. To improve the accuracy of ZSH diagnosis, confirming the presence of accompanying typical pain is necessary.
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