Familial hemifacial spasm
J. B. Carter, J. R. Patrinely, J. Jankovic, J. A. McCrary 3rd and M. Boniuk
Department of Ophthalmology, Cullen Eye Institute, Houston, Tex.
Three male patients in successive generations of the same family developed
acquired left-sided hemifacial spasm. Magnetic resonance imaging of the
proband demonstrated a pontine vertebral artery anomaly near the root of
the affected facial nerve. This family and a similar family that was
recently presented illustrate several interesting features: (1) hemifacial
spasm, from whatever cause, may be autosomal dominant; (2) the spasms
involve the same side of the face in affected individuals within an
affected family; and (3) the age of onset in familial cases may be younger
than in nonfamilial cases.
