Bilateral facial palsy and acute myeloid leukemia: an unusual association

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a malignant disease of the hematopoietic tissue. The disease presentation may be related to the loss of bone marrow function or with general symptoms of neoplastic diseases. Extramedullary involvement is responsible for less frequent presentations that may hinder early diagnosis. Gingival enlargement is not uncommon in AML but cases of bilateral facial palsy are rare. In this article the authors present the case of a man of 70 who comes up with gingival hypertrophy that initially was not valued and that developed after three weeks, a bilateral facial palsy. The myelogram revealed an AML. With directed chemotherapy the patient reached complete remission but kept the symptoms of disease presentation.