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"Contralateral Dry Eye in Hemifacial Spasm:" A New Clinical Sign.

ABSTRACT: Hemifacial spasm (HFS) is a benign condition characterized by unilateral, involuntary, paroxysmal clonic and tonic contractions of the facial muscles. This condition usually results from a focal demyelination at the root entry zone of the 7th cranial nerve secondary to a vascular loop compression, and hence, it responds to microvascular decompression (MVD) surgery, similar to trigeminal neuralgia. Herein, we report an interesting clinical finding of a contralateral dry eye in the case of HFS, which has not been described previously and discuss the possible underlying mechanisms. A 53-year-old man presented with a 6-month history of involuntary twitching movements of the left hemiface that persisted during sleep, consistent with the diagnosis of HFS. The patient's attempts to voluntarily control the troublesome involuntary left-sided eye blinking led to the development of dryness and reddening of the right eye. Corneal reflex, both direct and consensual, was intact bilaterally, and an ophthalmological examination ruled out the diagnosis of conjunctivitis. The patient underwent MVD of the facial nerve. To our surprise and validating our supposition, his contralateral conjunctival hyperemia and dry eye resolved within a day of surgery, along with complete resolution of the HFS. HFS can lead to the contralateral dry eye from the voluntary suppression of ocular blinking which resolves following MVD. We demonstrate this finding for the first time and believe its recognition may be of value in the patient management.

SUBMITTER: Gosal JS

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6703023 | biostudies-other | 2019 Jul-Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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"Contralateral Dry Eye in Hemifacial Spasm:" A New Clinical Sign.

Gosal Jaskaran Singh JS Das Kuntal Kanti KK Khatri Deepak D Attri Gagandeep G Jaiswal Awadhesh Kumar AK

Asian journal of neurosurgery 20190701 3

Hemifacial spasm (HFS) is a benign condition characterized by unilateral, involuntary, paroxysmal clonic and tonic contractions of the facial muscles. This condition usually results from a focal demyelination at the root entry zone of the 7<sup>th</sup> cranial nerve secondary to a vascular loop compression, and hence, it responds to microvascular decompression (MVD) surgery, similar to trigeminal neuralgia. Herein, we report an interesting clinical finding of a contralateral dry eye in the case ...[more]

PMID: 31497150

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Project description:Hemifacial spasm is typically caused by vascular compression of the proximal intracranial facial nerve. Although the prevalence of neurovascular compression has been investigated in a cohort of patients with classical trigeminal neuralgia, the prevalence and severity of neurovascular compression has not been well characterized in patients with hemifacial spasm. We aimed to investigate whether presence and severity of neurovascular compression are correlated to the symptomatic side in patients with hemifacial spasm. All patients in our study were evaluated by a physician who specializes in the management of cranial nerve disorders. Once hemifacial spasm was diagnosed on physical exam, the patient underwent a dedicated cranial nerve protocol magnetic resonance imaging study on a 3 T scanner. Exams were retrospectively reviewed by a neuroradiologist blinded to the symptomatic side. The presence, severity, vessel type, and location of neurovascular compression along the facial nerve was recorded. Neurovascular compression was graded as contact alone (vessel touching the facial nerve) versus deformity (indentation or deviation of the nerve by the culprit vessel). A total of 330 patients with hemifacial spasm were included. The majority (232) were female while the minority (98) were male. The average age was 55.7 years. Neurovascular compression (arterial) was identified on both the symptomatic (97.88%) and asymptomatic sides (38.79%) frequently. Neurovascular compression from an artery along the susceptible/proximal portion of the nerve was much more common on the symptomatic side (96.36%) than on the asymptomatic side (12.73%), odds ratio = 93.00, P < 0.0001. When we assessed severity of arterial compression, the more severe form of neurovascular compression, deformity, was noted on the symptomatic side (70.3%) much more frequently than on the asymptomatic side (1.82%) (odds ratio = 114.00 P < 0.0001). We conclude that neurovascular compression that results in deformity of the susceptible portion of the facial nerve is highly associated with the symptomatic side in hemifacial spasm.

Dataset Information

"Contralateral Dry Eye in Hemifacial Spasm:" A New Clinical Sign.

Publications

"Contralateral Dry Eye in Hemifacial Spasm:" A New Clinical Sign.

Similar Datasets

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