Foix–Chavany–Marie syndrome, also known as bilateral anterior opercular syndrome, is a partial paralysis of the face, pharynx, and jaw caused by bilateral damage to a specific region of the brain, the operculum. It is named for those who, in 1926, first described the condition—Charles Foix, Jean Alfred Émile Chavany, and Julien Marie—in a paper published in the Revue Neurologique. As a characteristic, there is no paralysis of upper or lower limbs and those affected can still make involuntary movement like smiling, eating or blinking eyes.
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Symptoms
Symptoms are anarthria, drooling, trouble talking, jaw jerks, and general weakness in the face.
Causes
The most common cause is stroke, infection of the brain, malformation, degenerative disorder, and head trauma.
Diagnosis
The diagnosis is made with CT scan and MRI. Usually, the lesion appears on both side of the brain, in the operculum. This part of the brain contains Broca's area, which plays an important role in conversation or speech production, reading, and writing.