Clinical Analysis of Patients with Primary Blepharospasm: A Report of 100 Cases in China.

PURPOSE: This study explored the clinical characteristics, diagnosis and treatments of primary blepharospasm.

METHODS

In this retrospective analysis, 100 patients with blepharospasm were enrolled. Data were collected from medical records and face-to-face interviews with patients and their families.

RESULTS

The age of onset was 56.4 ± 2.7 (range, 32-76 years). The duration between onset and accurate diagnosis was 38.7 ± 36.0 months (range, 2-120 months). Dry eyes occurred in 54% of the patients. The initial diagnostic accuracy was 10%. Dry eye syndrome, conjunctivitis/keratitis and myasthenia gravis caused the most confusion in the differential diagnosis. Regular botulinum toxin type A injections improved both eyelid spasms and subjective ocular symptoms in all patients.

CONCLUSIONS

Regular botulinum toxin type A injections improved both eyelid spasms and subjective ocular symptoms in blepharospasm patients. The differentiation of primary blepharospasm differentiation from dry eye syndrome, conjunctivitis/keratitis and myasthenia gravis must be improved.