title: Bell's palsy-induced blepharospasm.
abstract: We report two patients with blepharospasm that appeared during the recovery phase of Bell's palsy. It is well known that hemifacial spasm occasionally appears after Bell's palsy; however, blepharospasm associated with Bell's palsy has been rarely reported so far. Blepharospasm appeared within a month after the onset of Bell's palsy, suggesting that a certain causal relationship may be present between Bell's palsy and blepharospasm. We speculate that corneal irritation caused by lagophthalmos contributes to the induction of blepharospasm. Another speculation is that abnormal afferent input from the paralyzed side contributes to the abnormal sensitization of the blink reflex, thereby facilitating the induction of abnormal facial motor outputs such as blepharospasm.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Wakayama Medical University, Kimiidera, Wakayama, Japan. h-miwa@wakayama-med.ac.jp
authors.forename: Hideto
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Miwa
authors.forename: Tomoyoshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kondo
authors.forename: Yoshikuni
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Mizuno
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D020330:Bell Palsy / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001764:Blepharospasm / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged