Abstract: Objective To investigate the effect of microvascular decompression surgery on quality of life in patients with hemifacial spasm. Methods A clinical data collection of 224 adult patients with hemifacial spasm treated by the surgery was conducted between 2012 to 2017. The degree of spasm and effect of the operation were evaluated by Cohen Grading Standard before and after the surgery. The quality of life was evaluated by the HFS-8 scale. The results were analyzed statistically. Results According to Cohen Grading Standard, symptoms were improved significantly 6 months after the surgery. The effective remission rate and the total effective rate of the surgery were 92.7% and 97.6% respectively. The score of HFS-8 scale was significantly lower than before treatment (2.71±3.25 VS 18.01±4.57, p<0.05); The scores were significantly different before and after the surgery in patients with different degrees of remission, except for the “invalid” group (p=0.071); The scores of patients with different strengths of the spasm were significantly improved (p<0.05), and the Pearson correlation coefficient suggested that the HFS-8 score was significantly correlated with the severity of the spasm. Conclusions Microvascular decompression is one of the preferred treatments of hemifacial spasm, which can effectively improve the the quality of life in patients with hemifacial spasm.

Key words: Hemifacial Spasm, Microvascular Decompression, Quality of Life, Scale