Fortanier and Speijer (1935) reported a family with hereditary facial weakness. Nicolai et al. (1986) reported further on this family, which had 9 affected members spanning 4 generations. Affected members had unilateral or bilateral facial weakness. Weakness of ... Fortanier and Speijer (1935) reported a family with hereditary facial weakness. Nicolai et al. (1986) reported further on this family, which had 9 affected members spanning 4 generations. Affected members had unilateral or bilateral facial weakness. Weakness of the muscles of the 3 branches of the facial nerve varied among individuals. Besides facial weakness, 3 patients also had variable hearing loss. In 1 patient with hearing loss, there was a deformity of the petrous portion of the temporal bone.