OBJECTIVE To describe the long term efficacy and side effects of the treatment of hemifacial spasm with Dysport and to evaluate two different sites of injection to hopefully reduce side effects. METHODS This study was designed as a prospective descriptive study. Injections were made subcutaneously around the eye. Peak improvement was subjectively assessed by using a visual analogue scale and ...

The erythropoietic sites and developmental patterns of haemoglobins have been investigated during ontogeny of Emys orbicularis. The yolk-sac blood islands seem to be the unique erythropoietic site during most of embryonic life. Bone marrow haemopoiesis is first observed in young turtles aged one year. The cortical haemopoietic layer of the liver appears involved mainly in granulopoiesis. There ...

BACKGROUND Psychogenic blepharospasm is difficult to distinguish clinically from benign essential blepharospasm (BEB). The blink reflex recovery cycle measures the excitability of human brainstem interneurons and is abnormal in BEB. We wished to study the blink reflex recovery cycle in patients with atypical (presumed psychogenic) blepharospasm (AB). METHODS This was a prospective data collec...

BLEPHAROSPASM is an involuntary spasmodic but tonic contraction of the orbicularis oculi that may last a few seconds to a few minutes spaced by periods of relaxation. It tends to become progressive and bilateral and is often associated with spasms of other muscles innervated by the facial nerve. It is difficult to treat and is not subject to spontaneous resolution. The usual medical remedies (d...

Weighting of the upper lid with gold, to provide closure and cosmetic improvement in a lagophthalmos due to facial palsy, has found increasing acceptance among plastic surgeons and ophthalmologists since it was described by Smellie9 in 1966. The technique we have developed after a 4-year experience with this procedure has proved to be good, and it can be easily modified as the clinical circumst...

BACKGROUND Hemifacial spasm (HS) and spasmodic torticollis (ST) are well-known disorders that are caused by a neurovascular conflict. HS is characterized by irregular, involuntary muscle contractions on one side of the face due to spasms of orbicularis oris and orbicularis oculi muscles, and is usually caused by vascular compression of the VII cranial nerve. ST is an extremely painful chronic m...

OBJECTIVE To determine if individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) are characterized by larger eyeblink and/or autonomic responses to sudden, loud (startling) tones. METHODS Twenty participants with OCD and 21 mentally healthy control participants were presented with 15 consecutive 95-db, 500-msec, 1000-Hz tones with 0-msec rise and fall times at the same time orbicularis oculi el...

PURPOSE The purpose of this report is to demonstrate a rare clinical manifestation of apraxia eyelid opening related to a basal ganglia lesion. CASE REPORT In this study, we report a 91-year-old woman suffering from difficulty in eyelid opening after being treated for myocardial ischemia with dual antiplatelet medications. She could open her eyelid with fingers touching her forehead. Brain co...

The habituation index is a quantitative expression of the ability of the orbicularis oculi (blink reflex) to adapt to a series of electrical stimuli applied to the supraorbital region. This parameter has been studied in a group of normal control subjects, and the results compared with those in cases of idiopathic and drug-induced Parkinsonism, states of dementia, and dyskinesias such as Hunting...