The primary purpose of the eyelids is to ensure corneal integrity. An important component of this protective function is maintaining the corneal tear film. Blink characteristics can determine tear film stability. Increasing blink amplitude thickens the lipid layer that overlies the aqueous layer of the tear film. This thickening reduces evaporation of the aqueous layer. Because each blink refor...

The response to botulinum toxin type A was compared after two injection techniques in 45 patients with blepharospasm. Initially, patients were treated according to a triple injection technique; two injections into the upper eyelid and one injection into the lower eyelid. Subsequently, without altering the dose, the same patient group received two further injections into the pretarsal portion of...

We have reviewed the surgical management of essential blepharospasm over the last 15 years, comparing the results from facial nerve avulsion with those from orbicularis muscle stripping. After facial nerve avulsion 50% of patients remained free of troublesome spasm for 15 months after surgery, but only 25% remained so for more than two years. Following orbicularis oculi myectomy 50% of patients...

Ten patients who were unable to initiate or sustain eye opening in the absence of overt spasm of the orbicularis oculi, were investigated. In five, the problem was isolated. Three had Parkinson's disease and two progressive supra-nuclear palsy for between one to six years before the eye opening difficulty developed. The clinical features and electrophysiological investigation suggested that the...

Meige syndrome, which has been presented in tardive syndromes, is a form of blepharospasm accompanied by oromandibular dystonia with manifestations over the face, jaw, and neck. A blepharospasm can be induced by antihistamines, dopaminomimetic or sympathomimetic drugs, or long-term exposure to dopamine antagonists. Atypical antipsychotics have less extrapyramidal side effects because of a weak ...

There is a lack of evidence on the clinical efficacy and safety of the recently released Chinese botulinum toxin serotype A (Prosigne) for the treatment of focal dystonias and hemifacial spasm. Determining a more precise role of Prosigne in the treatment of such conditions is of paramount importance, because botulinum toxin type A treatments have a huge economic implication in health services, ...

Botulinum toxin injections are the treatment of choice for the management of essential blepharospasm in adults. No cases of congenital blepharospasm have been described in the literature so far, and no cases of botulinum toxin injection in an infant have been reported. A 4-week-old girl was referred to our department with absent eye opening and spasmodically closed eyes. Pregnancy and delivery ...