Abstract

 

An infant with a face symmetrical at rest, but one corner of the mouth does not pull downward and outward symmetrically with the other while crying and smiling, is said to have an “asymmetric crying facies” (ACF). The etiology of this asymmetry is congenital absence or hypoplasia of the depressor anguli oris muscle (DAOM) at one corner of the mouth. Its associations with major congenital anomalies, most commonly in the cardiovascular system, have been reported. In this report, a six-year-old boy with asymmetric crying facies and its treatment with botulinum-A toxin (BOTOX) is presented. To our knowledge, the treatment of ACF with BOTOX has not been reported yet.

Key Words: Asymmetric Crying Facies; Botulinum-A Toxin; Child.