Facial myokymia due to acoustic neurinoma

Abstract The case of a 62-year-old female patient who presented with facial myokymia is reported. The patient had a 13-year history of progressive left-sided hearing loss. In further course, involuntary, wormlike, rippling movements of the left facial muscles developed. Computed tomography revealed a tumor located in the left cerebellopontine angle. Electrophysiologic examinations confirmed the diagnosis of facial myokymia. The tumor, which evolved from the eighth cranial nerve, was totally removed microsurgically. The tumor was histologically verified to be an acoustic neurinoma. Postoperatively, the patient had a facial nerve paralysis, and the facial myokymia was no longer present. The present case provides further evidence that facial myokymia may be triggered by alterations at one of various sites along the course of the motor axons of the facial nerve.