Abstract
Cervical dystonia (CD) is often associated with dystonic head tremor. In some cases, the head tremor is much more apparent than the abnormal head posture which may be relatively subtle. Differential diagnosis includes titubation and essential tremor limited to the head and neck. Titubation occurs as a component of midline cerebellar ataxia and is accompanied by cerebellar findings. Essential tremor affecting the head is more jerky and irregular than dystonic tremor, rarely occurs in isolation, and is nearly always associated with postural or action tremor of the upper extremities or voice tremor (see Chap. 25). Dystonic head tremor is often but not always more prominent when the patient attempts to turn the head away from the abnormal head posture.
Keywords
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
This chapter contains a video segment which can be found at the URL: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-60327-426-5_40
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Chan J, Brin M, Fahn S. Idiopathic cervical dystonia: clinical characteristics. Mov Disord. 1991;6:119–26.
Jankovic J, Leder S, Warner D, et al. Cervical dystonia: clinical findings and associated movement disorders. Neurology. 1991;41:1088–91.
Dauer WT, Burke RE, Greene P, Fahn S. Current concepts on the clinical features, aetiology and management of idiopathic cervical dystonia. Brain. 1998;121:547–60.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Electronic Supplementary material
5 CD - Torticollis w. dystonic head tremor.mp4 (mp4 7,293kB)
At rest, the patient exhibits 25° of right-sided rotation with continuous, irregular horizontal head tremor. Rotational range of motion is full. There is no postural tremor in the upper extremities.
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2012 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Bhidayasiri, R., Tarsy, D. (2012). Cervical Dystonia: Torticollis with Dystonic Head Tremor. In: Movement Disorders: A Video Atlas. Current Clinical Neurology. Humana, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-60327-426-5_40
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-60327-426-5_40
Published:
Publisher Name: Humana, Totowa, NJ
Print ISBN: 978-1-60327-425-8
Online ISBN: 978-1-60327-426-5
eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)