Introduction to facial muscle spasm

    Facial muscle spasm manifests as involuntary paroxysmal twitching of one side of the face, usually starting from eyelid fluttering and gradually involving facial expression muscles, corners of the mouth and neck muscles, and the twitching is aggravated during emotional stress and exertion.  The onset of the disease in adulthood is slow, and eventually the facial muscles of the affected area atrophy, called “paralytic facial palsy”, which seriously affects the quality of life of patients.  The main cause is the pulsatile compression of the facial nerve root by the tortuous and prolonged intracranial artery, resulting in atrophy and degeneration of the myelin sheath at the site of nerve fiber compression, short-circuiting of the nerve action current, and a burst of downward transmission when the excitation is superimposed to a certain degree, causing facial twitching.  The “microvascular decompression procedure” pioneered by Prof. Jennatta in 1967 is the only ideal way to treat this disease etiologically, curing the disease while completely preserving the function of the facial nerve with no sequelae.  We have made a lot of technical improvements to this type of surgery, which has increased the cure rate to 98%, reaching the international advanced level, and has relieved more than 10,000 patients of their pain. Currently, Director Chen Guoqiang performs about 1000+ such surgeries/year, and has made a great breakthrough in the prevention, control and management of surgical complications.