Blinking-blepharospasm after long-term neuroleptic treatment

A patient is described who developed frequent blinking and blepharospasm after long-term treatment with trifluoperazine, whose condition improved dramatically after the cessation of the drug. The implications of this for our understanding of the manifestations and natural course of the late-onset side-effects of neuroleptic drugs are discussed. This case further supports the role of dopaminergic mechanisms in the aetiology of Meige's syndrome, which has blepharospasm and oromandibular dystonia as its main manifestations.