Neurotoxin injection for movement disorders

Rectus Femoris Characteristics in Post Stroke Spasticity: Clinical Implications from Ultrasonographic Evaluation

In stroke survivors, rectus femoris (RF) spasticity is often implicated in gait pattern alterations such as stiff knee gait (SKG). Botulinum toxin type A (BoNT-A) is considered the gold standard for focal spasticity treatment. However—even if the accuracy of injection is crucial for BoNT-A efficacy—instrumented guidance for BoNT-A injection is not routinely applied in clinical settings. In order to investigate the possible implications of an inadequate BoNT-A injection on patients’ clinical outcome, we evaluated the ultrasound-derived RF characteristics (muscle depth, muscle thickness, cross-sectional area and mean echo intensity) in 47 stroke survivors. In our sample, we observed wide variability of RF depth in both hemiparetic and unaffected side of included patients (0.44 and 3.54 cm and between 0.25 and 3.16 cm, respectively). Moreover, our analysis did not show significant differences between treated and non-treated RF in stroke survivors. These results suggest that considering the inter-individual variability in RF muscle depth and thickness, injection guidance should be considered for BoNT-A treatment in order to optimize the clinical outcome of treated patients. In particular, ultrasound guidance may help the clinicians in the long-term follow-up of muscle quality.

Treatment of Blepharospasm and Oromandibular Dystonia with Botulinum Toxins

Blepharospasm and oromandibular dystonia are focal dystonias characterized by involuntary and often patterned, repetitive muscle contractions. There is a long history of medical and surgical therapies, with the current first-line therapy, botulinum neurotoxin (BoNT), becoming standard of care in 1989. This comprehensive review utilized MEDLINE and PubMed and provides an overview of the history of these focal dystonias, BoNT, and the use of toxin to treat them. We present the levels of clinical evidence for each toxin for both, focal dystonias and offer guidance for muscle and site selection as well as dosing.

Patient considerations in the treatment of cervical dystonia: focus on botulinum toxin type A

Cervical dystonia is the most common form of focal dystonia characterized by involuntary muscle contractions causing abnormal movements and posturing of the head and neck and is associated with significant pain. Botulinum toxin is considered first-line therapy in the treatment of pain and abnormal head posturing associated with cervical dystonia. There are currently three botulinum toxin type A neurotoxins and one botulinum type B neurotoxin commercially available and US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) labeled for the treatment of cervical dystonia. This review will focus on the efficacy, safety, and therapeutic use of botulinum type A neurotoxins in the treatment of cervical dystonia. We conclude with a discussion of factors influencing toxin selection including therapeutic effect, duration of effect, side effect profile, cost, and physician preference.