title: Hemifacial spasm: The past, present and future.
abstract: Hemifacial spasm is characterised by unilateral contractions of the facial muscles. Though considered to be benign by many people, it can lead to functional blindness and a poor quality of life due to social embarrassment for the suffering individual. Botulinum toxin therapy is an excellent noninvasive tool to treat this condition. However, surgical decompression of the aberrant vessel is also an upcoming approach to therapy for this condition.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, GB Pant Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, India.
authors.forename: Neera
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Chaudhry
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, GB Pant Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, India. Electronic address: mrabhilekh@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Abhilekh
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Srivastava
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, GB Pant Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, India.
authors.forename: Laxmikant
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Joshi
mesh_terms: D001905:Botulinum Toxins / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D019569:Hemifacial Spasm / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D019635:Neurosurgical Procedures / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D001905:Botulinum Toxins
keywords: Botulinum toxin therapy; Differential diagnosis; Hemifacial spasm; Movement disorder; Pathogenesis; Review; Surgical treatment