Bells palsy: treatment with famciclovir and prednisone compared with prednisone alone: a randomized, controlled trial

Aim of the study: Bell's palsy (BP) is a common idiopathic lesion of the peripheral facial nerve. Most patients recover, but up to 16% of patients have relevant sequelae. HSV reactivation has been proposed as pathogenic mechanism. The benefit of antiviral drugs in patients with BP is still controversial. We performed a randomized, controlled prospective trial to compare prednisone (P) therapy with the combination of prednisone and famciclovir (P+F) in BP. Clinical outcome, virus antibody (ab)-titres and electroneurgraphic changes (ENG) were compared. Methods: Patients with untreated BP since