[Costs and efficacy of type A botulinum toxin for the treatment of essential blepharospasm and hemifacial spasm].
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the costs and efficacy of type A botulinum toxin in the treatment of essential blepharospasm and hemifacial spasm.


METHODS
Pacients with essential blepharospasm and hemifacial spasm had their files analyzed. All patients were treated with type A botulinum toxin (Dysport) between April 2002 and May 2004 at the Oculoplastic Clinics of "Santa Casa de São Paulo". Twenty-seven patients presented essential blepharospasm and 23 presented hemifacial spasm. Information about the patient's degree of satisfaction after treatment, complaints and personal costs were recorded by a questionnaire, and information about the costs of Dysport treatment were obtained at the administration department of "Santa Casa de São Paulo". Wilcoxon and Mann-Whitney tests were used for statistical analysis.


RESULTS
1- The annual treatment costs were R Dollars 1,239.32 for essential blepharospasm and R Dollars 661.72 for hemifacial spasm. 2- The patient's annual costs were R Dollars 145.48 for essential blepharospasm and R Dollars 6.07 for hemifacial spasm. 3- The hospital's annual costs for the treatment were R Dollars 1,095.84 for essential blepharospasm and R Dollars 535.65 for hemifacial spasm. 4- Dysport treatment is successful in both essential blepharospasm and hemifacial spasm.


CONCLUSIONS
The costs of essential blepharospasm and hemifacial spasm treatment with Dysport are high, mainly because of the toxin price. On economic analysis of health, we can conclude that this procedure has an excellent cost-benefit ratio.
Lasalvia
Cintia Gomes Galvão
CG
Departamento de Oftalmologia, Faculdade de Ciências Médicas, Santa Casa de Misericórdia de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brasil. cintiagalvao@uol.com.br
Pereira
Luciano de Sousa
Lde S
da Cunha
Marcos Carvalho
MC
Kitadai
Silvia Prado Smit
SP
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001764:Blepharospasm / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000191:economics* / Q000503:physiopathology; D019274:Botulinum Toxins, Type A / Q000191:economics* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D019569:Hemifacial Spasm / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000191:economics* / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009498:Neurotoxins / Q000191:economics* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D009498:Neurotoxins; D019274:Botulinum Toxins, Type A