Ramsay Hunt Syndrome: a case report

Resumen

Ramsay Hunt syndrome (RHS) is defined as herpes zoster infection of the head and neck that involves the facial nerve. The purpose of the article is to describe the clinical characteristics of diagnosis and treatment of a patient with Ramsay Hunt syndrome. A male patient, 72 years old, sought treatment for facial and neck pain, grade 10, on the visual analog scale (VAS = 10), which has persisted for 15 days. Reported a pain like an electric shock, short-term, evolving the auriculotemporal branch of the trigeminal nerve and greater auricular nerve of superficial cervical plexus to the right side. Associated with the pain that was present a hemifacial paralysis on the same side of the face. Because the location of pain, quality, duration and clinical manifestations, the way has been a treatment derived from acyclovir therapy and physiotherapy. In the third follow-up visit, reported no facial and neck pain, EAV = zero, remaining still a slight asymmetry of the buccal branch of facial nerve on the right side. The Ramsay Hunt syndrome is a disease that can, in some cases lead to hemifacial paralysis, causing the patient's individual retraction of a social life. Both early diagnosis and treatment seem to be directly related to therapeutic success.