Disease relevance of Hemifacial Spasm

• Letter: Dimethyl aminoethanol in blepharospasm and hemifacial spasm [1].
• The list of indications is expanding, but at present it is generally considered to be the treatment of choice for focal dystonias such as blepharospasm, torticollis, laryngeal dystonia, and oromandibular dystonia, as well as hemifacial spasm, strabismus, and some forms of limb spasticity [2].
• Purified botulinum A exotoxin was used in the treatment of forty seven patients with benign essential blepharospasm, 11 patients with hemifacial spasm and 2 patients with age-related entropion [3].
• Twenty had dystonia, four had hemifacial spasm, and two had pure hyperfunction without neuromuscular disease [4].
• Facial spasms that distort facial expression are typically due to facial dystonia, tics, and hemifacial spasm (HFS) [5].

High impact information on Hemifacial Spasm

• Management of hemifacial spasm with clonazepam [6].
• PURPOSE: Doxorubicin is effective in permanently removing muscle after direct injection into the eyelid for treatment of blepharospasm and hemifacial spasm [7].
• To evaluate distant effects of botulinum toxin, single fibre electromyography on the extensor digitorum communis muscle and six tests of cardiovascular reflexes were performed in five patients injected with BoTox (Oculinum(R) 20-130 units) for craniocervical dystonia and hemifacial spasm [8].
• Serotonin also produced unilateral blepharospasm and hemifacial spasm [9].
• Hemifacial spasm: successful treatment with felbamate [10].

Chemical compound and disease context of Hemifacial Spasm

• The myotoxic drug doxorubicin can treat blepharospasm and hemifacial spasm permanently when injected directly into the eyelid of patients [11].
• Twenty patients with cryptogenic hemifacial spasm have been examined electrophysiologically and treated with blockade of the facial nerve with phenol injections after localization of the nerve by electrical stimulation [12].
• Gabapentin as treatment for hemifacial spasm [13].
• Baclofen in hemifacial spasm [14].
• The hemifacial spasm failed to resolve with intravenous pamidronate [15].

Biological context of Hemifacial Spasm

• In the field of otolaryngology, these include spasmodic dysphonia, oromandibular dystonia, and blepharospasm; vocal tics and stuttering; cricopharyngeal achalasia; various tremors and tics; hemifacial spasm; temporomandibular joint disorders; and a number of cosmetic applications [16].

Anatomical context of Hemifacial Spasm

• Botulinum toxin A (BoNT/A), a neurotoxin, is effective for treating a variety of disorders of involuntary muscle contraction, including cervical dystonia, blepharospasm and hemifacial spasm [17].

Gene context of Hemifacial Spasm

• While the average duration of maximum improvement lasted about 11 weeks after an injection (range seven weeks in patients with hand dystonia to 15 weeks in patients with hemifacial spasm), some patients benefited for over a year [18].
• We report 2 cases with MS and continuous hemifacial myokymia persisting for up to 1 month which disappeared after injection of botulinum toxin [19].
• MRI was used to investigate 100 patients with hemifacial spasm, using 3D-FT T2-weighted (CISS) and contrast-enhanced 3D-FT T1-weighted (turbo-FLASH) sequences in all cases [20].
• Hemifacial spasm or subcortical epilepsy [21]?
• Patients with Duane's retraction syndrome, associated with hypoplasia of the abducens nerve in the brain-stem, and patients with hemifacial spasm, due to compression of the facial nerve in the brain-stem, have been found to have abnormal ABRs [22].

Analytical, diagnostic and therapeutic context of Hemifacial Spasm

• We review the clinical features, proposed pathophysiologic features, differential diagnosis and treatment, including the use of botulinum toxin, of cranial dystonia and hemifacial spasm [23].
• Botulinum toxin treatment in patients with focal dystonia and hemifacial spasm. A multicenter study of the Italian Movement Disorder Group [24].

References