RAMSAY HUNT SYNDROME

Course overview

RAMSAY HUNT SYNDROME, ALSO KNOWN AS HERPES ZOSTER OTICUS, IS A LATE COMPLICATION OF VARICELLA-ZOSTER VIRUS INFECTION THAT RESULTS IN INFLAMMATION OF THE GENICULATE GANGLION OF CRANIAL NERVE VII. RAMSAY HUNT IS A CLINICAL DIAGNOSIS AND CLASSICALLY IS DESCRIBED AS A TRIAD OF IPSILATERAL FACIAL PARALYSIS, OTALGIA, AND VESICLES NEAR THE EAR AND AUDITORY CANAL. DIAGNOSIS IS OFTEN MISSED OR DELAYED, WHICH CAN LEAD TO AN INCREASED INCIDENCE OF LONG-TERM COMPLICATIONS. THE CONDITION IS SELF-LIMITING, BUT TREATMENT IS TARGETED AT DECREASING THE TOTAL DURATION OF THE ILLNESS AS WELL AS PROVIDING ANALGESIA AND PREVENTING THE COMPLICATIONS THAT CAN OCCUR. THIS ACTIVITY REVIEWS THE ROLE OF THE INTERPROFESSIONAL TEAM IN THE DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT OF RAMSAY HUNT SYNDROME.