Surface electromyographic activity was recorded bilaterally from orbicularis oculi muscles when subjects relaxed and contracted eyelid muscles. Cutaneous reflex responses were evoked during both the relaxed and contraction states. Following reflex elicitation periods of muscle silence in orbicularis oculi were observed for about 10 to 15 ms after the ipsilateral R1 response and for up to 100 ms...

The paralytic properties of botulinum A toxin have led to its use in humans in the treatment of strabismus and facial dystonias such as essential blepharospasm. Examination of orbicularis muscle from 10 patients with essential blepharospasm who received 2-18 injections of botulinum toxin 6 weeks to 3 years prior to surgery revealed characteristic nodal, terminal and ultraterminal "sprouting" of...

Trigeminal nerve ophthalmic and motor division function was assessed clinically and electrically in 32 patients who had undergone various surgical procedures for trigeminal neuralgia. Using known electrophysiological techniques, the orbicularis oculi and jaw reflexes were tested in all subjects. Abnormalities of the orbicularis oculi reflex were anticipated on the basis of ophthalmic division a...

Blepharospasm, a focal dystonia characterized by involuntary orbicularis oculi muscle spasms, may vary in severity from a slightly bothersome condition to a disabling disorder that renders patients functionally blind. Botulinum toxin (BTX) injection, the gold-standard treatment, has a beneficial effect in 95% of patients. Oral medication is of limited efficacy. For individuals that do not respo...

Since 1999, introduced Trachemys scripta elegans from artificial and natural water bodies in the Po plain (North Italy) were bacteriologically screened. From 2001 onwards, a survey of Emys orbicularis was started in the same area. 15 carcasses and 349 cloacal swabs from T. s. elegans, and 100 cloacal swabs from E. orbicularis have been studied. Most samples yielded positive bacteriological resu...

The orbicularis oculi reflex was studied in 48 comatose patients and the results were correlated with clinical and pathological findings. The late component of the reflex was absent or of minimal amplitude in all cases regardless of the site of lesions, reflecting a diffuse suppression of the reticular system rather than a specific or local block in the brain-stem. Alteration of the early compo...

The results of patients operated on by Nepal Cleft Lip and Palate Association (NECLAPA) surgeons for congenital macrostomia were prospectively studied between January 2000 and December 2002. There were four males and three females with a median age of 10 years. Three had an associated branchial arch syndrome. In all patients an overlapping repair of orbicularis oris was done. Six patients had a...

Nerve excitability is useful for prognosis in Bell's palsy. Minimal excitability values (MEV) were obtained by stimulating the facial nerve and recording the effective current (mA) required to evoke a minimal visible contraction of frontalis, orbicularis oculi, orbicularis oris, and mentalis muscles respectively. Serial MEVs were performed on 100 patients with facial palsy, of whom 87 were foll...

A 61-year-old woman developed acute dyslalia, dysphonia, dysphagia, and facial rhythmic jerks 8 hours after the intake of 2 tablets of metoclopramide 10 mg, prescribed for nausea during respiratory infection. Examination revealed dysphonia, dyslalia, dysphagia, and myoclonus in the orbicularis oculi (video 1 on the Neurology® Web site at Neurology.org), orbicularis oris, and palatopharyngeal (v...