{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,8]],"date-time":"2026-06-08T03:59:43Z","timestamp":1780891183476,"version":"3.54.1"},"reference-count":10,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,7]],"date-time":"2026-06-07T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1780790400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Reports"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background and Clinical Significance: Recurrent peripheral facial palsy is most often attributed to idiopathic Bell\u2019s palsy (BP), yet a minority of patients harbor underlying structural lesions. Early recognition of such lesions is essential for timely and appropriate management. Case Presentation: We retrospectively reviewed recurrent unilateral facial palsy at a single tertiary center and selected two illustrative patients in whom serial clinical, electrodiagnostic, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings ultimately indicated structural pathology. The first patient experienced three strictly right-sided episodes over 3.5 years, with worsening House\u2013Brackmann grades (II \u2192 III \u2192 V) and progressive axonal loss on serial facial nerve conduction studies, culminating in a mass-like enhancing lesion at the geniculate ganglion consistent with schwannoma. The second patient had two left-sided recurrences within seven months. MRI evolved from a subtle intrameatal nodular suspicion without enhancement to a clearly enhancing intrameatal nodule with dural thickening. Additional intracranial nodular enhancements were discovered later and the patient was diagnosed with leptomeningeal metastasis. Conclusions: These cases illustrate that strictly ipsilateral recurrences, progressive electrophysiologic deterioration, and atypical or evolving MRI enhancement patterns should prompt thorough re-evaluation for structural causes rather than repeated labeling as idiopathic BP.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/reports9020178","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,8]],"date-time":"2026-06-08T02:32:46Z","timestamp":1780885966000},"page":"178","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Structural Mimics of Recurrent Bell\u2019s Palsy: A Case Report Highlighting Diagnostic Red Flags in Facial Nerve Schwannoma and Metastasis"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"9","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5443-386X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sohyeon","family":"Kim","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Neurology, Dongsan Hospital, Keimyung University School of Medicine, Daegu 42601, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0208-9470","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Hyesoo","family":"Kwon","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Neurology, Dongsan Hospital, Keimyung University School of Medicine, Daegu 42601, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9938-5355","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Hung Youl","family":"Seok","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, Kyungpook National University, 130, Dongdeok-ro, Jung-gu, Daegu 41944, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,7]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"323","DOI":"10.1016\/j.autrev.2012.05.008","article-title":"Bell\u2019s palsy and autoimmunity","volume":"12","author":"Greco","year":"2012","journal-title":"Autoimmun. 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Psychiatry"}],"container-title":["Reports"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2571-841X\/9\/2\/178\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,8]],"date-time":"2026-06-08T03:44:18Z","timestamp":1780890258000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2571-841X\/9\/2\/178"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,7]]},"references-count":10,"journal-issue":{"issue":"2","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,6]]}},"alternative-id":["reports9020178"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/reports9020178","relation":{},"ISSN":["2571-841X"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2571-841X","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,7]]}}}