Botulinum toxin for blepharospasm: single-fiber EMG studies

Neurology. 1986 Apr;36(4):545-7. doi: 10.1212/wnl.36.4.545.

Abstract

In four patients who received periocular injections of botulinum toxin for blepharospasm, abnormal neuromuscular transmission was demonstrated by single-fiber EMG in arm muscles. The time course with which the abnormalities developed and cleared, as well as the inverse relationship between the neuromuscular jitter and the firing rate in the abnormal muscles, indicated that the toxin caused the abnormalities in arm muscles. No weakness was detected clinically in muscles distant from the face, but the abnormal neuromuscular transmission indicates that the toxin spread remotely from the site of injection.

MeSH terms

  • Blepharospasm / drug therapy*
  • Botulinum Toxins / pharmacology
  • Botulinum Toxins / therapeutic use*
  • Electromyography
  • Eye
  • Eyelid Diseases / drug therapy*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Middle Aged
  • Muscles / drug effects
  • Muscles / physiopathology
  • Neuromuscular Junction / drug effects
  • Neuromuscular Junction / physiopathology

Substances

  • Botulinum Toxins