Título

Use of the smarthphone to objectively assess the treatment effect in patients with essential blepharospasm

Objetivo

The effect of botulinum toxin injections in essential blepharospasm patients is usually assessed using grading systems. However, these tools do not permit to accurately assess the treatment effect. In order to objectively evaluate the effect of botulinum toxin injections in patients with essential blepharospasm, we used a software (developed exclusively to assess the blink rate in patients with this condition), in conjunction with a smartphone camera.

Método

A prospective study was performed on 40 eyes of 20 patients with essential blepharospasm who underwent treatment with botulinum toxin (Botox®, Allergan, Irvine, CA) injections into the affected muscles. Using a smartphone (Iphone 6, Apple), blinking was recorded bilaterally for 3 min in a standard manner and, then a custom-made software was used to assess the blink rate before and after treatment. Student’s t-test was used to compare the blink rate before and 15 days after botulinum toxin injections.

Resultado

The mean age of the patients was 72.35 years (SD: 7.95); 85% were female. A statistically significant reduction was observed on the blink rate before and 15 days after the injections (23.18  12.85 and 9.29  6.87 respectively; p = 0.0001).

Conclusão

Our results show that a smartphone, associated with a custom-made software, can be used to objectively assess the effect of treatment with botulinum toxin injections in essential blepharospasm patients.