Background: Dystonias are hyperkinetic movement disorders characterized by involuntary muscle contractions resulting in abnormal torsional movements and postures. Recent neuroimaging studies in idiopathic craniocervical dystonia (CCD) have uncovered the involvement of multiple areas, including cortical ones. Our goal was to evaluate white matter (WM) microstructure in subjects with CCD using di...

The focal dystonia benign essential blepharospasm (BEB) affects as many as 40,000 individuals in the United States. This dystonia is characterized by trigeminal hyperexcitability, photophobia, and most disabling of the symptoms, involuntary spasms of lid closure that can produce functional blindness. Like many focal dystonias, BEB appears to develop from the interaction between a predisposing c...

1. Kanazawa M, Shimohata T, Sato M, Onodera O, Tanaka K, Nishizawa M. Botulinum toxin A injections improve apraxia of eyelid opening without overt blepharospasm associated with neurodegenerative diseases. Mov Disord 2007;22:597-598. 2. Lepore FE, Duvoisin RC. “Apraxia” of eyelid opening: an involuntary levator inhibition. Neurology 1985;35:423-427. 3. Jankovic J. Pretarsal injection of botulinu...

This review updates understanding and research on blepharospasm, a subtype of focal dystonia. Topics covered include clinical aspects, pathology, pathophysiology, animal models, dry eye, photophobia, epidemiology, genetics, and treatment. Blepharospasm should be differentiated from apraxia of eyelid opening. New insights into pathology and pathophysiology are derived from different types of ima...

We report the first Indian experience of botulinum toxin A in the treatment of blepharospasm and hemifacial spasm. Sixteen patients, 7 with essential blepharospasm, 5 with Meige syndrome and 4 with hemifacial spasm received botulinum toxin A injection. One patient received 3 courses of injections, 2 received 2 courses and the rest received only one course. The effect was observed after a latent...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE To characterize patients with benign essential blepharospasm (BEB) by diagnosis, environmental risk factors, and family history. METHODS Two hundred and forty patients with BEB were evaluated through a clinical examination and questionnaire. The questionnaire reviewed personal medical history, demographic factors, risk factors for the development of blepharospasm and fa...

A 43-year-old woman with drug-related blepharospasm was followed up for 22 months. She had undergone etizolam treatment for 19 years for indefinite complaints. We examined her cerebral glucose metabolism 5 times (between days 149 and 688 since presentation), using positron emission tomography, and identified regions of interest in the thalamus, caudate nucleus, putamen, and primary somatosensor...

PURPOSE To describe a patient with Schwartz Jampel vel Aberfeld syndrome (SJS) who underwent orbicularis oculi myectomy as a treatment for blepharospasm. CASE REPORT A 4-year-old child with SJS did not respond to an injection of a single dose of botulinum toxin after one month, so orbicularis myectomy was then performed under general anesthesia. During the procedure, orbicularis vermiform mov...