Melkersson-Rosenthal syndrome: a rare variant of the monosymptomatic form

Abstract

Melkersson-Rosenthal syndrome (MRS) is a rare condition without any known etiology. It is characterized by the triad facial paralysis, facial swelling, and the development of folds and furrows at the tongue (fissured tongue). This study aims to report a case of a 59-year-old patient complaining about asymmetric eyelid swelling that had started two years before, associated with pain and redness on her right eye, without repercussions on her visual acuity. The patient underwent a skin biopsy of the right eye’s lower eyelid, which was compatible with the monosymptomatic form of MRS. Consequently, five injections of triamcinolone were performed for the period of one year, with gradual and satisfactory improvement. One year after the end of the treatment, the patient returned with recurrence of the swelling, and therapy with triamcinolone associated with oral steroids was started. However, due to the lack of improvement, Tacrolimus ointment 0.03% was initiated. The patient evolved with an important and significant reduction of the eyelid edema, still being followed at the Hospital Federal dos Servidores do Estado do Rio de Janeiro.

Melkersson-Rosenthal Syndrome: A Case Report With a Bipolar Perspective

“…Melkersson-Rosenthal syndrome (MRS) is a rare clinical syndrome defined by a classic triad of symptoms which includes recurrent facial nerve palsy, orofacial edema, and furrowing of the tongue [1]. Diagnosis can be extremely difficult given that patients are more frequently monosymptomatic or oligosymptomatic [2]. MRS was first documented by Melkersson in 1928 when he published a case of a 35-year-old female presenting with orofacial edema and recurrent facial palsy [3].…”