[Herpes zoster oticus -- neuropathologic contribution to the genesis of concomitant facial paralysis (author's transl)].

A woman of 71 years suffered from herpes zoster oticus, 7th and 10th nerve paralysis, vertigo and hearing loss; she died after 5 weeks. Neuropathologic examination revealed intensive inflammation in the pons and medulla oblongata and necrotizing arteritis in the cerebello-pontine angle, predominantly on the clinically affected side. The adjacent facial nerve was severely damaged. For the first time, necrotizing arteritis appears as important cause of facial paralysis in the Ramsey-Hunt syndrome.