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Article
February 1990

Familial Hemifacial Spasm

Author Affiliations

From the Departments of Ophthalmology, Cullen Eye Institute (Drs Carter, Patrinely, McCrary, and Boniuk) and Neurology (Dr Jankovic), Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Tex. Dr Carter is now with The Wilmer Ophthalmological Institute, The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Md.

Arch Ophthalmol. 1990;108(2):249-250. doi:10.1001/archopht.1990.01070040101040
Abstract

• Three male patients in successive generations of the same family developed acquired left-sided hemifacial spasm. Magnetic resonance imaging of the proband demonstrated a pontine vertebral artery anomaly near the root of the affected facial nerve. This family and a similar family that was recently presented illustrate several interesting features: (1) hemifacial spasm, from whatever cause, may be autosomal dominant; (2) the spasms involve the same side of the face in affected individuals within an affected family; and (3) the age of onset in familial cases may be younger than in nonfamilial cases.

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