Bilateral hemifacial spasm: case report

Bilateral hemifacial spasm (BHS) is a rare focal movement disorder often associated with vascular compression of both facial nerves. The contractions are usually asymmetric and asynchronous. Typically, one side is affected first and there is a long but variable interval for the symptoms on the other side to occur. BHS must be differentiated from other conditions including blefarospasm, facial myokymia, facial tics, oromanclibular dystonia, and hemimasticatory spasm. The most successful and non-invasive symtomatic treatment is botulinum toxin injections but microvascular decompression surgery is another therapeutic option. We report the case of a 70 years old man with bilateral hemifacial spasms and present a brief review of the literature.