Man suffering with facial spasms successfully treated at hospital in Chennai

A 40-year-old man, who had been suffering with hemifacial spasms, a rare neurological condition that causes involuntary facial twitching (spasms) on one side, was successfully operated upon and cured at SIMS Hospital in Chennai recently.

At a press meet held by the hospital on Wednesday, February 5, 2025, Vishwaraj Ratha, senior consultant neurosurgeon said that the patient’s condition started in the eye and spread to his face. The constant spasms badly affected his quality of life. He explained that the condition, affecting around 1 in 10,000 people, was caused when a nerve that connected to facial muscles lost its ‘insulation’ (through a blood vessel pressing on it), meaning, an electric short circuit of sorts was created, causing ‘shocks’ to the muscles. The treatment, he said, involved reinsulating the nerve with a teflon sheet, in a surgical procedure — microvascular decompression (MVD).

The MVD procedure was carried out with intra-operative neuro monitoring (IONM) by Nishanth Sampath, senior consultant neurophysiologist. Dr. Sampath explained the challenge was to ensure that the nerve was completely insulated so that the patient did not experience symptoms again. This turned out to be a complicated surgery since the affected seventh nerve was close to the eighth nerve (responsible for hearing) and both were located close to the brain stem. Dr. Sampath stimulated the nerve while the patient was under anaesthesia to reproduce the effect, and then monitored the electric signals, informing the surgeon, once all of the abnormal activity had stopped post the decompression (insulation).

The patient, Sajeeth Sukumaran from Riyadh, described his over four-year ordeal, visiting close to 17 doctors in about six hospitals across four countries. The condition, he said, affected him during meetings, as he was not able to get photographs taken and while not painful, led to a facial ache.

Doctors explained that many patients went for years without their condition being accurately diagnosed or treated. More awareness was key to helping patients access the right kind of medical help, they said.