Premium
Task‐specific craniocervical dystonia
Author(s) -
Schramm Axel,
Naumann Markus,
Reiners Karlheinz,
Classen Joseph
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
movement disorders
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.352
H-Index - 198
eISSN - 1531-8257
pISSN - 0885-3185
DOI - 10.1002/mds.22006
Subject(s) - cervical dystonia , dystonia , physical medicine and rehabilitation , focal dystonia , movement disorders , neurological disorder , medicine , pathophysiology , botulinum toxin , psychology , dyskinesia , neuroscience , task (project management) , central nervous system disease , pathology , parkinson's disease , disease , management , economics
The pathophysiology of dystonia is incompletely understood. Unlike many other focal dystonias, cervical dystonia, a frequent dystonia leading to twisting of the head, does not appear to be related to overuse or acquisition of a demanding motor skill. Here, we report development of task‐specific dystonia of the neck muscles in a 67‐year‐old patient following bilateral traumatic arm amputation at the age of 15. To compensate for the amputation, the patient learned to write with a pen held in his mouth. After several years of practicing this unusual and demanding skill, symptoms of task‐specific cervical dystonia (CD) developed. This dystonia later became permanent, and independent of the motor activity that initially triggered the dystonic muscular contractions. This singular case raises the possibility that the pathophysiology of CD may share common elements with that of focal dystonias in different body regions. © 2008 Movement Disorder Society