FAMILIAL HEMIFACIAL SPASM

Two brothers developed hemifacial spasm at 63 and 70 years of age. Spa sms occurred on the left and right sides of the face, respectively. Co mputed tomography scan and magnetic resonance imaging failed to show a ny abnormality. In addition, a third sibling reported a history of a p eripheral facial palsy, which remitted spontaneously without sequelae. This is the fourth description of familial hemifacial spasms. This fa mily is unique in that hemifacial spasm presented on different sides i n the two brothers, and involvement was limited to one generation. Age at onset was later than for other familial cases and similar to spora dic cases.