The goal of this study is to find a cure for the masticatory muscle disease known as hemimasticatory spasm (HMS). This retrospective investigation intends to find a more efficient therapeutic approach for HMS patients by examining the clinical effectiveness of masseteric nerve avulsion performed on HMS using a temporomandibular arthroscope. A clinical study was piloted where the subjects were treated for masseter nerve avulsion by TMJ arthroscopy. The follow-up was done till 2 years, and the subjects were evaluated for the various characteristics like difficulties, masticatory abilities, and various sounds at the joint for the various functions of the joint. The diagnosis was done using the electrophysiological electromyogram (EMG) at the designated time intervals. There was a complete remission in all the subjects. The masseter nerve avulsion was effective since the scores lowered. Within 3 years of the operation, electrophysiological EMG depicted no discharge potential with a high frequency, and the total efficiency when paired with the clinical effectiveness was deemed acceptable. The maximal masseter power between the treated and nontreated sides was comparable. The mastication, on comparing, was also as effective as the normal side; however, lower mastication was noted in the first year. The avulsed nerve tissues lacked any apparent demyelination. Masseteric nerve avulsion with temporomandibular arthroscope assistance provided acceptable and stable total effectiveness for the intervention of the hemimasticatory spasm. While the strength of the muscle of the afflicted side was only marginally reduced, its masticatory effectiveness was optimally preserved.
In 2008, we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, this topic has received increasing attention, and many scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Thus, it is important to formulate on a regular basis updated guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Despite numerous reviews, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to evaluate autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. Here, we present a set of guidelines for investigators to select and interpret methods to examine autophagy and related processes, and for reviewers to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of reports that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a dogmatic set of rules, because the appropriateness of any assay largely depends on the question being asked and the system being used. Moreover, no individual assay is perfect for every situation, calling for the use of multiple techniques to properly monitor autophagy in each experimental setting. Finally, several core components of the autophagy machinery have been implicated in distinct autophagic processes (canonical and noncanonical autophagy), implying that genetic approaches to block autophagy should rely on targeting two or more autophagy-related genes that ideally participate in distinct steps of the pathway. Along similar lines, because multiple proteins involved in autophagy also regulate other cellular pathways including apoptosis, not all of them can be used as a specific marker for bona fide autophagic responses. Here, we critically discuss current methods of assessing autophagy and the information they can, or cannot, provide. Our ultimate goal is to encourage intellectual and technical innovation in the field.