Auriculotemporal nerve syndrome (Frey syndrome) in two infants with bilateral presentation

Patients with auriculotemporal nerve syndrome (Frey syndrome) have facial flushing, sweating, or both located along the distribution of the auriculotemporal nerve, and that occurs in response to gustatory stimuli. As the condition usually manifests during infancy with the introduction of solid food, it can lead to the misdiagnosis of food allergy by physicians unfamiliar with this syndrome. Two boys (5 and 6 months old) presented with a history of bilateral facial flushing extending from the corner of the mouth to the temporal area. Symptoms began at the moment of fruit introduction (orange, pear, apple and banana) and also with some type of candy in the first. Symptoms appeared immediate to fruit mastication and cutaneous erythema spontaneously disappeared in a few minutes after finishing fruit. Both cases had been born without instrumental delivery. In one case the symptoms disappeared before the end of the first year of age, and the second (he?s now 7 months old) has symptoms discontinuously. The recognition of this entity might avoid unnecessary referral and laboratory evaluation.