Early treatment with prednisolone or acyclovir in Bell's palsy.

Frank M Sullivan; Iain R C Swan; Peter T Donnan; Jillian M Morrison; Blair H Smith; Brian McKinstry; Richard J Davenport; Luke D Vale; Janet E Clarkson; Victoria Hammersley; Sima Hayavi; Anne McAteer; Ken Stewart; Fergus Daly

doi:10.1056/NEJMoa072006

Early treatment with prednisolone or acyclovir in Bell's palsy.

Frank M Sullivan
, Iain R C Swan
, Peter T Donnan
, Jillian M Morrison
, Blair H Smith
, Brian McKinstry
, Richard J Davenport
, Luke D Vale
, Janet E Clarkson
, Victoria Hammersley
, Sima Hayavi
, Anne McAteer
, Ken Stewart
, Fergus Daly

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Corticosteroids and antiviral agents are widely used to treat the early stages of idiopathic facial paralysis (i.e., Bell's palsy), but their effectiveness is uncertain. METHODS: We conducted a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized, factorial trial involving patients with Bell's palsy who were recruited within 72 hours after the onset of symptoms. Patients were randomly assigned to receive 10 days of treatment with prednisolone, acyclovir, both agents, or placebo. The primary outcome was recovery of facial function, as rated on the House-Brackmann scale. Secondary outcomes included quality of life, appearance, and pain. RESULTS: Final outcomes were assessed for 496 of 551 patients who underwent randomization. At 3 months, the proportions of patients who had recovered facial function were 83.0% in the prednisolone group as compared with 63.6% among patients who did not receive prednisolone (P

Original language	English
Journal	The New England Journal of Medicine
Volume	357
Issue number	16
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa072006
Publication status	Published - 18 Oct 2007

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10.1056/NEJMoa072006

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title = "Early treatment with prednisolone or acyclovir in Bell's palsy.",

abstract = "BACKGROUND: Corticosteroids and antiviral agents are widely used to treat the early stages of idiopathic facial paralysis (i.e., Bell's palsy), but their effectiveness is uncertain. METHODS: We conducted a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized, factorial trial involving patients with Bell's palsy who were recruited within 72 hours after the onset of symptoms. Patients were randomly assigned to receive 10 days of treatment with prednisolone, acyclovir, both agents, or placebo. The primary outcome was recovery of facial function, as rated on the House-Brackmann scale. Secondary outcomes included quality of life, appearance, and pain. RESULTS: Final outcomes were assessed for 496 of 551 patients who underwent randomization. At 3 months, the proportions of patients who had recovered facial function were 83.0\% in the prednisolone group as compared with 63.6\% among patients who did not receive prednisolone (P",

author = "Sullivan, \{Frank M\} and Swan, \{Iain R C\} and Donnan, \{Peter T\} and Morrison, \{Jillian M\} and Smith, \{Blair H\} and Brian McKinstry and Davenport, \{Richard J\} and Vale, \{Luke D\} and Clarkson, \{Janet E\} and Victoria Hammersley and Sima Hayavi and Anne McAteer and Ken Stewart and Fergus Daly",

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month = oct,

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doi = "10.1056/NEJMoa072006",

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journal = "The New England Journal of Medicine",

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T1 - Early treatment with prednisolone or acyclovir in Bell's palsy.

AU - Sullivan, Frank M

AU - Swan, Iain R C

AU - Donnan, Peter T

AU - Morrison, Jillian M

AU - Smith, Blair H

AU - McKinstry, Brian

AU - Davenport, Richard J

AU - Vale, Luke D

AU - Clarkson, Janet E

AU - Hammersley, Victoria

AU - Hayavi, Sima

AU - McAteer, Anne

AU - Stewart, Ken

AU - Daly, Fergus

PY - 2007/10/18

Y1 - 2007/10/18

N2 - BACKGROUND: Corticosteroids and antiviral agents are widely used to treat the early stages of idiopathic facial paralysis (i.e., Bell's palsy), but their effectiveness is uncertain. METHODS: We conducted a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized, factorial trial involving patients with Bell's palsy who were recruited within 72 hours after the onset of symptoms. Patients were randomly assigned to receive 10 days of treatment with prednisolone, acyclovir, both agents, or placebo. The primary outcome was recovery of facial function, as rated on the House-Brackmann scale. Secondary outcomes included quality of life, appearance, and pain. RESULTS: Final outcomes were assessed for 496 of 551 patients who underwent randomization. At 3 months, the proportions of patients who had recovered facial function were 83.0% in the prednisolone group as compared with 63.6% among patients who did not receive prednisolone (P

AB - BACKGROUND: Corticosteroids and antiviral agents are widely used to treat the early stages of idiopathic facial paralysis (i.e., Bell's palsy), but their effectiveness is uncertain. METHODS: We conducted a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized, factorial trial involving patients with Bell's palsy who were recruited within 72 hours after the onset of symptoms. Patients were randomly assigned to receive 10 days of treatment with prednisolone, acyclovir, both agents, or placebo. The primary outcome was recovery of facial function, as rated on the House-Brackmann scale. Secondary outcomes included quality of life, appearance, and pain. RESULTS: Final outcomes were assessed for 496 of 551 patients who underwent randomization. At 3 months, the proportions of patients who had recovered facial function were 83.0% in the prednisolone group as compared with 63.6% among patients who did not receive prednisolone (P

U2 - 10.1056/NEJMoa072006

DO - 10.1056/NEJMoa072006

M3 - Article

C2 - 17942873

SN - 1533-4406

VL - 357

JO - The New England Journal of Medicine

JF - The New England Journal of Medicine

IS - 16

ER -

Early treatment with prednisolone or acyclovir in Bell's palsy.

Abstract

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