兄弟に同時発症したベル麻痺

Familial Bell's Palsy in Two Brothers

　はじめに

　ベル麻痺に家族性に発症する症例があることは従来から報告されている^1,2）。また，兄弟に数年の間隔をおいて発症したという報告^3）もあるが，同時に発症したという報告はない。今回，著者らは兄のベル麻痺発症後6日目に，弟にも発症した同時性家族性ベル麻痺症例を経験した。ベル麻痺発症の病因，誘因，機序を環境因子，遺伝的素因などから解明するのに貴重な症例と考え報告する。

Two cases (brothers aged 54 and 48) of facial palsy developed simultaneously were reported. The younger brother was seriously anxious about his brother's facial palsy, and 6 days later he had right facial palsy. Just before the onset of facial palsy in elder brother, low atmospheric pressure due to the cold front had passed. Two brothers had high serum antibody titers against herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) and showed one haplotype identical matching in their human leukocyte antigens (HLA) including BW-51. The weather change or mental stress was thought to reactivate latently infected HSV-1, which led facial palsy.