Postural stability in blepharospasm: the effects of dual-tasking and botulinum toxin therapy

Abstract

BackgroundBlepharospasm is a focal dystonia that presents as involuntary, intermittent, continuous contractions of the eyelids. Abnormal eyelid contractions in blepharospasm are expected to cause balance problems, but there is no clear information.ObjectiveThis study was designed to evaluate the effect of blepharospasm on postural stability (PS) in patients with blepharospasm. As a secondary endpoint, the efficacy of botulinum toxin type-A (BoNT-A) treatment on static balance in patients with blepharospasm was investigated.MethodsTwenty-four patients with blepharospasm receiving regular BoNT-A injections and 20 age-matched and sex-matched healthy controls were included in the study. All subjects were evaluated on a static posturography force platform performing four tasks (eyes open (EO), eyes closed (EC), tandem Romberg (TR) and verbal cognitive task (COGT)). Evaluations of the patients were repeated 4 weeks after the injection.ResultsPretreatment lateral and anterior–posterior sways, sway area and velocities of the sways were significantly higher in patients than controls during the COGT and TR (p<0.05). In the patient group, with EO and EC, a few parameters improved after BoNT-A injection. On the other hand, in the TR and COGT, most of the sway parameters and velocities improved significantly after treatment (p<0.05).ConclusionsBlepharospasm may cause functional blindness in patients. This study demonstrated that PS worsens in patients with blepharospasm under dual-task conditions. BoNT-A injection treats the disease itself and, thus, markedly improves PS under dual-task conditions in blepharospasm.

Evaluation of Posture, Balance and Gait Disorders in Diabetic Patients

“…Sempatik deri yanıtları (SDY) sağ el palmar ve dorsal yüzüne ve sağ ayak taban ve ayak sırtı derisi üzerine yine yüzeyel elektrot yapıştırılarak 3 kez tekrarlanarak yüksek ses ve ağrılı uyaranlar verilerek kaydedilmiştir. Olgularda yürüme ve denge işlevi Tinetti Denge ve Yürüme Skalası 11 ile, postürografik kayıtlar ise Lucerne II statik postürografi cihazı 12,13 ile tamamlanmıştır. Postürografik değerlendirmede hastalara cihazın platformu üzerinde mümkün olduğunca dik bir pozisyonda, çıplak ayakla, ayakları 4 cm aralıklı ve kolları vücutlarının yanında olacak şekilde durmaları söylenmiştir.…”