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Unusual presentation of more common disease/injury
Case report
Peripheral facial paralysis as presenting symptom of COVID-19 in a pregnant woman
  1. Rita Figueiredo1,
  2. Vera Falcão1,
  3. Maria João Pinto2,3 and
  4. Carla Ramalho1,4,5
  1. 1Department of Obstetrics, Centro Hospitalar de São João, EPE, Porto, Portugal
  2. 2Department of Neurology, Centro Hospitalar de São João, EPE, Porto, Portugal
  3. 3Department of Clinical Neurosciences and Mental Health, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal
  4. 4Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal
  5. 5Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, i3S, Porto, Portugal
  1. Correspondence to Dr Rita Figueiredo; anaritamfigueiredo{at}gmail.com

Abstract

Acute facial nerve disease leading to peripheral facial paralysis is commonly associated with viral infections. COVID-19 may be a potential cause of peripheral facial paralysis and neurological symptoms could be the first and only manifestation of the disease. We report a case of a term pregnancy diagnosed with COVID-19 after presenting with isolated peripheral facial palsy.

  • peripheral nerve disease
  • pregnancy
  • infectious diseases

This article is made freely available for use in accordance with BMJ’s website terms and conditions for the duration of the covid-19 pandemic or until otherwise determined by BMJ. You may use, download and print the article for any lawful, non-commercial purpose (including text and data mining) provided that all copyright notices and trade marks are retained.

https://bmj.com/coronavirus/usage

https://doi.org/10.1136/bcr-2020-237146

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    Footnotes

    • Contributors All authors made substantial contributions to the elaboration of the work. RF: patient management, conception and design of the work, drafting the manuscript, bibliographic research. VF: revision of the manuscript critically for important intellectual content, bibliographic research. MJP: patient management, revision of the manuscript critically for important intellectual content. CR: patient management and follow-up, conception of the work, revision of the manuscript critically for important intellectual content. Final version to be published was approved by all authors.

    • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Patient consent for publication Obtained.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.