Bell's like mononeuropathies of two lower cranial nerves and review of the literature

Phenomena akin to Bell's palsy may affect lower cranial nerves other than the seventh. They are probably missed and under-reported due to their less conspicuous presentation and relatively less alarming symptoms to the lay and inexperienced. We report two cases with very rare idiopathic, isolated, benign mononeuropathies of the lower cranial nerves. The first is a 15-year-old girl, with persistent right-sided hypoglossal nerve paralysis (HNP) of 5-year duration. The second case is of a 10-year-old child with transient unilateral isolated paralysis of his soft palate causing rhinolalia. The former is the only persistent pediatric case to be reported, while the latter a phenomenon reported 29 times previously. Their investigative work-up was entirely normal. A review of the English literature, on the subject, is presented.