Bell??s Palsy Before Bell: Cornelis Stalpart van der Wiel??s Observation of Bell??s Palsy in 1683

Abstract

Bell's palsy is named after Sir Charles Bell (1774-1842), who has long been considered to be the first to describe idiopathic facial paralysis in the early 19th century. However, it was discovered that Nicolaus Anton Friedreich (1761-1836) and James Douglas (1675-1742) preceded him in the 18th century. Recently, an even earlier account of Bell's palsy was found, as observed by Cornelis Stalpart van der Wiel (1620-1702) from The Hague, The Netherlands in 1683. Because our current knowledge of the history of Bell's palsy before Bell is limited to a few documents, it is interesting to discuss Stalpart van der Wiel's description and determine its additional value for the history of Bell's palsy. It is concluded that Cornelis Stalpart van der Wiel was the first to record Bell's palsy in 1683. His manuscript provides clues for future historical research.

Remarks on the early history of Bell’s palsy

“…The clinical entity, which we currently call Bell's palsy, was already clearly observed more than a century earlier, in 1683, by the Dutch physician Cornelis Stalpart van der Wiel (1620-1702) (Fig. 1a) [2,3].…”

Bell's palsy before Bell: Evert Jan Thomassen à Thuessink and idiopathic peripheral facial paralysis

“…‡ According to Forsten Verschuir, Stalpart van der Wiel's 1683 case is the first accurate historical case report. In 2005, the case was discovered and discussed by R C van de Graaf and J-P A Nicolai 3 …”

“…Strikingly, only three documents on idiopathic peripheral facial paralysis dating from the ‘pre-Bell era’ are currently known 2 , 4 , 20 , 21 . The first appeared in 1686, when Cornelis Stalpart van der Wiel (1620–1702) from The Netherlands published a case of idiopathic peripheral facial paralysis, which he had observed in 1683, in his thereafter widely known treatise One Hundred Rare Observations in Medicine, Surgery and Anatomy 3 , 22 . James Douglas (1675–1742) from Scotland was responsible for the second description, in 1704; however, this handwritten note remained unknown for more than 250 years 20 .…”

“…All three documents were ‘dead literature’ until they were brought to life again in the second half of the twentieth century. 3 , 20 , 21 …”

Electromyography and Facial Paralysis

“…Causes of head trauma are usually related to traffic injuries (82.5%), fall from height (7.5%), assault (5%), and gunshot (2.5%), although numbers can vary significantly from one country to the next (Pinna, Testa & Fukuda, 2004;Odebode & Ologe, 2006). Until the end of the 19 th century, the treatment of facial paralysis involved non-surgical means such as ointments, medicines and electrotherapy (van de Graaf & Nicolai, 2005). With the advent and refinement of microvascular surgical techniques in the latter half of the 20 th century, vascularised free muscle transfer coupled with cross-facial nerve grafts were introduced, allowing the possibility of spontaneous emotion being restored to the paralysed face became reality (Ghali, MacQuillan & Grobbelaar, 2011).…”