Introduction Typically, cervical dystonia (CD), or spasmodic torticollis, is described as a condition in which the cervical paraspinal muscle groups in the neck undergo uncontrollable and prolonged spasm. It has been well described in the literature that CD presents in most patients with an extreme head tilt or tremor due to spasm. This has become the all-encompassing definition of CD to many c...

Background: Dystonias are hyperkinetic movement disorders characterized by involuntary muscle contractions resulting in abnormal torsional movements and postures. Recent neuroimaging studies in idiopathic craniocervical dystonia (CCD) have uncovered the involvement of multiple areas, including cortical ones. Our goal was to evaluate white matter (WM) microstructure in subjects with CCD using di...

Oromandibular Dystonia (OMD) is a type of focal dystonia which affects the masticatory, cervical, facial, eyelid, laryngeal, and pharyngeal muscles. OMD patients may consult dentists with involuntary movement or spasm lips, tongue, jaw opening closing, changes in occlusion, slurred speech, drooling saliva, difficulty mastication, swallowing, speaking. Due to uncommon occurrence OMD, this condit...

BACKGROUND Adult-onset isolated focal dystonia (AOIFD) presenting in early adult life is more frequent in men, whereas in middle age it is female predominant. Temporal discrimination, an endophenotype of adult-onset idiopathic isolated focal dystonia, shows evidence of sexual dimorphism in healthy participants. OBJECTIVES We assessed the distinctive features of age-related sexual dimorphism o...

BACKGROUND Cervical dystonia is characterized by involuntary muscle contractions of the neck and abnormal head positions that affect daily life activities and social life of patients. Patients are usually treated with botulinum toxin injections into affected neck muscles to relief pain and improve control of head postures. In addition, many patients are referred for physical therapy to improve ...

We present the methodology utilized for development and clinimetric testing of the Comprehensive Cervical Dystonia (CD) Rating scale, or CCDRS. The CCDRS includes a revision of the Toronto Western Spasmodic Torticollis Rating Scale (TWSTRS-2), a newly developed psychiatric screening tool (TWSTRS-PSYCH), and the previously validated Cervical Dystonia Impact Profile (CDIP-58). For the revision of...

There is now strong evidence demonstrating that bilateral globus pallidus internus (GPi) stimulation improves motor function and disability in patients with severe primary generalised, segmental or cervical dystonia. The improvement is gradual, typically occurring over a period of about six months, with pain and then phasic components dissipating before the tonic elements of dystonia. Controlle...

The most widespread approach to rehabilitation of cervical dystonia is electromyographic (EMG) biofeedback. However, consensus is lacking regarding the true effectiveness of this technique. The aim of this study was to evaluate how cervical dystonia was influenced by two rehabilitative treatments, namely a standard biofeedback program and a novel physiotherapy program consisting of postural ree...

OBJECTIVE To examine the multivariate association between a model of self-perceived non-motor aspects and disability in cervical dystonia. DESIGN A prospective and correlational design with two points of assessment. SUBJECTS All 273 members with cervical dystonia from the Swedish Dystonia Patient Association were invited to participate. METHODS Data were collected with one self-reported q...

Dystonia commonly accompanies tremors but the prevalence of the association is controversial. Oppenheim had already described that tremors were associated with dystonic symptoms in “Dystonia Musculorum Deformans” in the early 20th century (Oppenheim et al, 1911, as cited in Jedynak et al., 1991). Yanagisawa analyzed idiopathic dystonia with electromyography and found that dystonia was associate...