Benign essential blepharospasm: epidemiology, clinical manifestations, pathophysiology, botulinum toxin therapy

Abstract

Blepharospasm (BPS) is a variant of focal dystonia manifested by involuntary eyelid spasms with eye closure and/or increased spontaneous blinking. Along with motor symptoms, this condition is characterized by sensory, affective, and cognitive disorders. Patients with BPS are found to have changes in the basal ganglia, cerebellum, primary/secondary sensorimotor and visual areas according to functional magnetic resonance imaging. This may reflect the involvement of above regions in suppressing defective movement and sensorimotor disintegration. Botulinum toxin therapy is the most effective treatment for BPS. The advantage of Xeomin® that does not contain complexing proteins, is characterized by a low probability of antibody production, is the ability to vary between-injection intervals. Probably, botulinum toxin therapy has a pathogenetic and modifying impact on BPS.

Keywords

• dystonia
• blepharospasm
• sensor tricks
• eyelid opening apraxia
• photophobia
• musculus orbicularis oculi
• sensorimotor disintegration
• wink reflex
• functional magnetic resonance imaging
• botulinum toxin therapy
• incobotulinotoxin a