[The treatment of blepharospasm with botulinum toxin A]

12 patients suffering from essential blepharospasm were treated by injection of 4 ng botulinum toxin A into the Musculus orbicularis oculi of each eye. The effect was followed up over a period of 6 weeks by means of a subjective rating scale, a visual function score and a score for the overall clinical impression. After 4 days an improvement was observed in all patients and it was still present after 6 weeks. After a time interval of 12 weeks reinjection was performed in 8 cases with half the initial dose, since the beneficial effect had decreased to under 50%. Follow-up showed an impressive response to reinjection of botulinum toxin A, which remained undiminished still after 6 weeks. No serious side effects were observed. Hence, this form of therapy appears to be an effective alternative to all other therapeutic measures in this disease.