1. Nonspastic hemifacial spasm confirmed by abnormal muscle responses
- Author
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Tatsuya Maegawa, Chika Yoshimura, Mayuko Inazuka, Atsushi Sasahara, Hidetoshi Kasuya, Suguru Yokosako, Shigeru Tani, Yuichi Takahashi, Hidenori Ohbuchi, Kengo Hirota, Motohiro Hirasawa, Hirokazu Koseki, Shinji Hagiwara, and Asami Kikuchi
- Subjects
Left vertebral artery ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Diagnostic methods ,medicine.medical_treatment ,Microvascular decompression ,Case Report ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,medicine ,otorhinolaryngologic diseases ,hemifacial spasm ,0501 psychology and cognitive sciences ,050102 behavioral science & comparative psychology ,nonspastic hemifacial spasm ,Involuntary movement ,medicine.diagnostic_test ,business.industry ,05 social sciences ,Magnetic resonance imaging ,Abnormal muscle response ,medicine.disease ,Botulinum toxin ,body regions ,stomatognathic diseases ,Facial twitching ,Surgery ,Neurology (clinical) ,Radiology ,business ,030217 neurology & neurosurgery ,Hemifacial spasm ,medicine.drug - Abstract
Background Hemifacial spasm is usually diagnosed by inspection which mainly identifies involuntary movements of orbicularis oculi. Assessing abnormal muscle responses (AMR) is another diagnostic method. Case description We report a case of left hemifacial spasm without detectable involuntary facial movements. The patient was a 48-year-old man with a long history of subjective left facial twitching. On magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the left VIIth cranial nerve was compressed by the left anterior inferior cerebellar artery (AICA), which was in turn compressed by the left vertebral artery. We initially treated him with botulinum toxin. We were able to record AMR, and hemifacial spasm occurred after AMR stimulation, although no spasm was detectable by inspection. Subsequently, we performed microvascular decompression with transposition of the AICA that compressed the VIIth cranial nerve. His hemifacial spasm resolved by 5 weeks after surgery and was not induced by AMR stimulation. Conclusion Hemifacial spasm can sometimes be diagnosed by detecting AMR rather than by visual inspection. We propose that such hemifacial spasm should be termed nonspastic hemifacial spasm.
- Published
- 2017