Cranial polyneuritis and Bell palsy.

In view of the specific nature of the clinical and neurologic findings in Bell palsy and other acute benign cranial neuritides, the neural component of cutaneous herpes simplex, the predilection of the herpesvirus for sensory nerves, and intrinsic behavior and immunologic interreactions of the herpesvirus within ganglion cells, it is suggested that (1) the entity that has been termed "idiopathic facial paralysis" be recognized as an acute benign cranial polyneuritis; and (2) other acute benign cranial neuritides be recognized as formes frustes of Bell palsy.