Treatment of blepharospasm with botulinum toxin. A preliminary report
B. R. Frueh, D. P. Felt, T. H. Wojno and D. C. Musch
The effects of botulinum A toxin injections for the treatment of facial
spasm were analyzed for 22 patients. Sixteen patients had unoperated on
essential blepharospasm, three had essential blepharospasm with residual
spasm following previous surgical treatment, and three had unoperated on
hemifacial spasm. Treatment was effective for most patients, but transient,
with the mean interval of relief of spasm after the first injections being
ten weeks. The injection of botulinum toxin reduced the maximum lid force
by about 10%. While side effects were common, they were generally mild and
well tolerated. No cumulative effect of botulinum toxin was evident in
those receiving three series of injections. There is no significant
difference in either the interval free of spasm or the rate of lid-force
recovery following any of three sequential injections of increasing doses
of botulinum toxin.
