Blepharospasm and hemifacial spasm: long-term treatment with botulinum toxin.
BACKGROUND
Our purpose is to describe the demographic, clinical and therapeutic characteristics of patients with blepharospasm (BS) and hemifacial spasm (HFS) in treatment with botulinum toxin type A (BtA).


METHODS
Retrospective analysis of patients diagnosed with BS or HFS and treated with BtA in the Neurology Department at Complejo Asistencial de Segovia between March 1991 and December 2009.


RESULTS
Different variables were collected from 34 patients with BS and 55 with HFS, of whom 44.1% and 32.7% respectively had been undergoing treatment with BtA for more than 10 years. Elapsed time from symptom onset to the first visit was 24 months in the BS group and 59.7 months in the HFS group. Diagnosis was given on the first visit for 76.5% of the BS patients and 90.7% of the HFS patients. Patients were referred by their primary care centres in 34.6% of the cases with BS and in 77.6% of the cases with HFS. The most commonly used BtA preparation was BOTOX(®) in both groups, and there were no cases of primary or secondary resistance. The median dose of BtA was raised gradually in both groups, and the increase was statistically significant during the early years of treatment. The most common side effect was ptosis (47.1% in BS, 32.5% in HFS).


CONCLUSIONS
BS and HFS are the most common facial movement disorders. The demographic and clinical characteristics and therapeutic findings from this study show that treatment with BtA is both effective and safe over the long term.
Sección de Neurología, Complejo Asistencial de Segovia, Segovia, España. cgilpolo@gmail.com
C
C
Gil Polo
M F
MF
Rodríguez Sanz
N
N
Berrocal Izquierdo
A
A
Castrillo Sanz
R
R
Gutiérrez Ríos
M I
MI
Zamora García
A
A
Mendoza Rodríguez
J
J
Duarte García-Luis
D001764:Blepharospasm / Q000188:drug therapy*; D001905:Botulinum Toxins / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D018450:Disease Progression; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005260:Female; D019569:Hemifacial Spasm / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009465:Neuromuscular Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D009465:Neuromuscular Agents; D001905:Botulinum Toxins