Principles and Practice of Movement Disorders

Stereotypies

Introduction Stereotypies may be defined as involuntary or unvoluntary (in response to or induced by inner sensory stimulus or unwanted feeling), coordinated, patterned, repetitive, rhythmic, seemingly purposeless movements or utterances ( , ; ; ; ). Although each child tends…

Tics and Tourette syndrome

Introduction Tourette syndrome (TS), which should be more appropriately called Gilles de la Tourette syndrome, is a neurologic disorder manifested by motor and vocal or phonic tics starting during childhood and often accompanied by obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), attention deficit–hyperactivity disorder…

Chorea, Ballism, and Athetosis

Introduction Chorea consists of involuntary, continual, abrupt, rapid, brief, unsustained, and irregular movements that flow randomly from one body part to another. Patients can partially and temporarily suppress the chorea and frequently camouflage some of the choreiform movements by incorporating…

Huntington disease

Introduction George Huntington published his essay “On Chorea” in 1872 (Huntington, 1872), 1 year after graduating from Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons and while practicing general medicine with his father on Long Island, New York. In this paper, he…

Treatment of dystonia

Introduction Despite paucity of knowledge about the cause and pathogenesis of dystonic disorders, the symptomatic treatment of dystonia has markedly improved, particularly since the introduction of botulinum toxin (BoNT). In most cases of dystonia, the treatment is merely symptomatic, designed…

Tremors

Introduction Tremor is a rhythmic, oscillatory movement produced by alternating or synchronous contractions of antagonist muscles. It is the most common form of involuntary movement, but only a small fraction of those who shake seek medical attention. Indeed, in one…

Nonmotor problems in Parkinson disease

Introduction Although the motor symptoms of Parkinson disease (PD) dominate the clinical picture—and even define the parkinsonian syndrome—many patients with PD have other complaints that have been classified as nonmotor ( ), and several recent scales have been developed to…