Not only gustatory sweating and flushing: Signs and symptoms associated to the Frey syndrome and the role of botulinum toxin A therapy.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

The classic symptoms of Frey syndrome are gustatory sweating and flushing. Aims of the study were to describe prevalenceand severity of typical and atypical presentations of the disorder and to assess the effects of botulinum neurotoxin A (BoNT-A) therapy in patients with Frey syndrome after parotidectomy.

METHODS:

In this prospective, observational study on 18 patients, we assessed symptom severity before therapy, after 15 days, 1, 3 and 6 months' follow-up with the sweating-flushing-itch-paresthesia-pain (SFIPP) Frey scale specifically designed by the authors themselves for this study.

RESULTS:

Before BoNT-A injection, all patients (100%) complained gustatory sweating, 80% paresthesia, 77% gustatory flushing, 60% pain and 60% gustatory itch. The SFIPP-Frey overall score and the symptom-specific ones decreased significantly at each post-therapy control.

CONCLUSIONS:

The prevalence of "unusual" manifestations is not negligible. BoNT-A improves symptoms severity. The SFIPP-Frey scale may be useful to assess symptoms and to monitor post-therapy outcomes.

• Authors: Maria Raffaella Marchese, Francesco Bussu, Stefano Settimi, Emanuele Scarano, Giovanni Almadori, Jacopo Galli
• Journal: Head & neck (Head Neck) Vol. 43 Issue 3 Pg. 949-955 (03 2021) ISSN: 1097-0347 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 33247501 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Observational Study)
• Copyright: © 2020 Wiley Periodicals LLC.

Chemical References

• Neuromuscular Agents
• Botulinum Toxins, Type A

Topics

• Botulinum Toxins, Type A (therapeutic use)
• Humans
• Injections
• Neuromuscular Agents (therapeutic use)
• Parotid Gland
• Postoperative Complications
• Prospective Studies
• Sweating, Gustatory (diagnosis, drug therapy)