Background: Benign essential blepharospasm (BEB), aberrant facial nerve degeneration and hemifacial spasm (HFS) are all examples dystonia which, though not life-threatening, can have a significant impact on patient quality of life. The need for reliable self-rating surveys to monitor functional disability is fundamental. The Blepharospasm Disability Index (BSDI) is already a widely utilised and validated self-rating score for blepharospasm whilst the functional disability score (FDS) requires further validation. The principle aim of this study is to repeat validation of the FDS against the BSDI, which has been validated by several groups since its original description but only in patients with BEB.

Methods: A randomised blinded prospective cohort study was conducted at a single unit on 38 patients with BEB, aberrant facial nerve degeneration and HFS. Patients were blinded to complete the FDS followed by the BSDI or the BSDI followed by the FDS with a 30-minute interval.

Results: Both the FDS and BSDI were found to be reliable with high internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Both scales were also found to be moderately correlated with the Jankovic disease severity score.

Conclusions: This study is the first to use the FDS as a rating scale in patients with HFS and aberrant facial nerve degeneration. It is also the first study to formally validate the FDS as an acceptable rating scale for patients with dystonia and in particular it provides validation for its use in patients with HFS and aberrant facial nerve degeneration.

Abstract: Bioengineered materials are used as a substitute in many fields of medicine, especially in plastic surgery and in burns. In ophthalmic plastic surgery they can be used for covering large tissue defects or as a tarsal plate substitute, in cases when it is not possible to use conventional surgical techniques. We have searched PubMed and Web of Science scientific databases. We can generally categorize skin substitutes by the type of tissue used—we distinguish autografts, allografts, and xenografts. There are also completely synthetic substitutes. The aim of our article was to summarize the current state of knowledge and to sum up all the clinical applications of bioengineered materials in the periocular region. There are only a few scientific articles about this topic and lack of prospective randomized studies aimed on use of bioengineered materials in periocular region. Nevertheless, there are many articles describing successful case reports or case reports series. According to literature, bioengineered materials are the most commonly used in big traumas or large surgical defects, especially in oculoplastic tumour surgery. Bioengineered dermal substitutes are not frequently used in the periocular region. Dermal substitutes are useful, when it is not possible to close the defect with any other conventional surgical technique.