The pathophysiology of blepharospasm is incompletely understood. Current concepts suggest that blepharospasm is a network disorder, involving basal ganglia, thalamus, cortex, and, possibly, the cerebellum. Tracing, imaging, and clinical studies revealed that these structures are also concerned with olfaction and taste. Because of this anatomical overlap, dysfunction of the chemical senses in blepharospasm is expected. Injections of botulinum toxin into the eyelid muscles are the first-line treatment of blepharospasm. Yet, the effects of botulinum toxin on the chemical senses have not been systematically assessed. To contribute to a better understanding of blepharospasm, olfactory and gustatory abilities were assessed in 17 subjects with blepharospasm and 17 age-/sex-matched healthy controls. Sniffin Sticks were used to assess odor threshold, odor discrimination, and odor identification. Results of these three Sniffin Sticks subtests were added to the composite olfactory score. The Taste Strips were applied to assess taste. In an adjacent study, we assessed the sense of smell and taste in eight subjects with blepharospasm before and 4 weeks after botulinum toxin treatment. Subjects with blepharospasm had significantly lower (= worse) scores for odor threshold and for the composite olfactory score than healthy controls, while odor discrimination, odor identification, and the composite taste score were not different between groups. The adjacent study revealed that botulinum toxin did not impact the chemical senses. In this study, subjects with blepharospasm had a lower (= worse) odor threshold than healthy controls. As olfaction is important in daily life, findings justify further research of olfaction in blepharospasm.

眼睑痉挛的病理生理学尚不完全清楚。目前的概念表明眼睑痉挛是一种网络障碍，涉及基底神经节、丘脑、皮质，可能还涉及小脑。追踪、成像和临床研究表明，这些结构也与嗅觉和味觉有关。由于这种解剖重叠，预计眼睑痉挛中的化学感觉功能障碍。将肉毒杆菌毒素注射到眼睑肌肉中是眼睑痉挛的一线治疗方法。然而，肉毒杆菌毒素对化学感觉的影响尚未得到系统评估。为了更好地了解眼睑痉挛，对 17 名眼睑痉挛受试者和 17 名年龄/性别匹配的健康对照者的嗅觉和味觉能力进行了评估。嗅探棒用于评估气味阈值，气味辨别和气味识别。这三个 Sniffin Sticks 子测试的结果被添加到综合嗅觉评分中。使用味觉条来评估味道。在一项相邻的研究中，我们评估了 8 名眼睑痉挛患者在肉毒杆菌毒素治疗前和治疗后 4 周的嗅觉和味觉。与健康对照组相比，眼睑痉挛患者的气味阈值和综合嗅觉评分显着降低（= 更差），而气味辨别、气味识别和综合味觉评分在各组之间没有差异。相邻的研究表明，肉毒杆菌毒素不会影响化学感官。在这项研究中，眼睑痉挛患者的气味阈值低于（= 更差）健康对照组。由于嗅觉在日常生活中很重要，