Diagnosis and misdiagnosis of hemifacial spasm: a clinical and video study

Early recognition of hemifacial spasm (HFS) is important as it can be effectively treated. 203 family physicians participated in a video "test" on HFS. Only 9.4% (19/203) were able to diagnose HFS. 94 (46.3%) of them did not know how to manage the condition. Twenty-two (10.8%) would use steroids as a treatment and 13 (6.4%) felt no treatment was needed. Only 27 (13.3%) indicated that botulinum toxin could be employed to treat HFS. The year of graduation of the doctors significantly correlated with a correct diagnosis (P<0.05). The low positive diagnostic rate (25.7%) of HFS from referrals to the movement disorder clinic corroborated findings from the video test.