Oppenheim<sup>105 Oppenheim H. Über eine eigenartige Krampfkrankenheit des kindlichen und jugendlichen Alters (Dysbasia lordotica progressiva, Dystonia musculorum deformans) Neurol Centrabl 1911 ;  30 : 1090-1107

Cliccare qui per andare alla sezione Riferimenti</sup> coined the term dystonia in a report of children who suffered from a condition characterized by uncontrollable muscular contractions that produced abnormal postures. Even prior to this description, however, the nineteenth century clinicians, including Gowers,<sup>48 Gowers W.R.   A Manual of Diseases of the Nervous System London: Churchill (1888). 

Cliccare qui per andare alla sezione Riferimenti</sup> described patients with similar movement disorder. With the exception of rare reports, such as the one on the use of stereotactic thalamotomy for dystonia,<sup>23 Cooper I.S., Bravo G. Implications of a 5-year study of 700 basal ganglia operations Neurology 1958 ;  8 : 701-707

Cliccare qui per andare alla sezione Riferimenti</sup> medical literature largely ignored this condition until 1976. In that year, Eldridge and Fahn<sup>30 Eldridge R.S., Fahn S. Advances in Neurology: Dystonia vol 14   New York: Raven Press (1976). 

Cliccare qui per andare alla sezione Riferimenti</sup> published the first monograph on dystonia. The growing interest in this movement disorder since then is indicated by the growing number of published studies on dystonia in recent years. Important milestones in the research of this condition have been the realization that most cases of dystonia have neurologic and not psychogenic origin,<sup>87 Marsden C.D. Dystonia: The spectrum of the disease The Basal Ganglia New York: Raven Press (1976).  351-367

Cliccare qui per andare alla sezione Riferimenti</sup> the identification of genetic markers in some forms of dystonia,<sup>8 Bressman S.B., Hunt A.L., Heinman G. , e al. Exclusion of the DYT1 locus in a non-Jewish family with early onset-dystonia Mov Disord 1994 ;  9 : 626-632  [cross-ref]

Cliccare qui per andare alla sezione Riferimenti</sup> the use of high-dosage anticholinergic therapy,<sup>33 Fahn S. High dosage anticholinergic therapy in dystonia Neurology 1983 ;  33 : 1255-1261

Cliccare qui per andare alla sezione Riferimenti</sup> and the introduction of botulinum toxin.<sup>13 Cardoso F., Jankovic J. Clinical use of botulinum neurotoxins Clostridial Neurotoxins Berlin: Springer (1995).  123-141

Cliccare qui per andare alla sezione Riferimenti</sup>

Dystonia is defined as a syndrome of sustained muscle contractions, frequently causing twisting and repetitive movements, or abnormal postures.<sup>1 Ad Hoc Committee: Ad Hoc Committee of the Dystonia Medical Research Foundation. (Drs. A. Barbeau, DB Calne, S Fahn, CD Marsden, J Menkes, and GF Wooten), February 1984

Cliccare qui per andare alla sezione Riferimenti</sup> Although dystonic movements are typically slow and at least transiently sustained, they also may be fast and brief. The characteristic feature of dystonia, not emphasized in the original definition, is the “patterned” aspect of the abnormal contractions. This means that the same group of muscles is always contracting to produce the abnormal posture. The definition implies that dystonia is a symptom rather than a specific disease; and there are many causes of dystonia, the most common of which is primary or idiopathic dystonia (Table 1).

Despite the large number of studies on dystonia, the second most common movement disorder seen in movement disorders clinics, this hyperkinesia often is misdiagnosed. For instance, on average, patients with blepharospasm, focal dystonia of the eyelids, are evaluated by 10 physicians before being diagnosed correctly.<sup>63 Jankovic J., Orman J. Blepharospasm: Demographic and clinical survey of 250 patients Ann Opthalmol 1984 ;  16 : 371-376

Cliccare qui per andare alla sezione Riferimenti</sup> Although the clinical features of dystonia are becoming more frequently recognized, the disorder still is often wrongly attributed to stress or other psychological causes. The aim of this article is to provide an overview of classification, phenomenology, epidemiology, genetics, pathophysiology, neuropsychological aspects, and treatment. Emphasis is placed on dystonia associated with chronic exposure to neuroleptic medications.