BENIGN CONGENITAL HEMIFACIAL SPASM

Hemifacial spasm (HFS) is characterized by involuntary, irregular cont raction of the muscles innervated by one facial nerve, Usually, it is caused by facial nerve injury either due to microvascular compression or a posterior fossa tumor, but it also occurs without apparent cause, It is rare in children; no congenital cases have yet been reported, W e report the first case of congenital HFS in a term newborn delivered by forceps after a normal labor, Multimodal evoked potentials, electro encephalogram, computed tomography of the petrous bone, as well as bra in magnetic resonance imaging and angiography disclosed no abnormaliti es, Serial neurodevelopmental examinations and video recordings perfor med until 8 months of age documented a normal neurodevelopmental statu s and a tendency for spontaneous diminution of the HFS. An intrauterin e facial nerve injury as the causative factor of HFS, being responsibl e for its benign course, is proposed, (C) 1997 by Elsevier Science Inc , All rights reserved.