Evolution of the concept of dystonia

Abstract

The term dystonia was proposed by Hermann Oppenheim in 1911, but reports of cervical dystonia are finding since the Roman Empire. The differentiation of the dystonia between a neurological and a psychiatric disease turned a lot. Sometimes was proposed, further, the exclusion of the dystonia as a different phenomenon among the movement disorders. The hypothesis of emotional etiology of the dystonias increase in the decade of 1960 and the conclusion of the etiology of dystonia only happened in the decades of 1970 and 1980 with a series of works of Charles David Marsden. These researches defined dystonia as a movement disorder caused by lesion in the basal ganglia. In February of 1984, a committee of members of Scientific Advisory Board of the Dystonia Medical Research Foundation developed the definition for dystonia accepts until 2013 when an international committee developed the new concept.

The Anatomical Basis for Dystonia: The Motor Network Model

“…An organic basis was not widely accepted until the publication of a series of papers linking it with focal lesions of the nervous system, particularly the basal ganglia. 78 Subsequent studies described focal lesions in many regions of the nervous system. A summary of individual case reports can be found in prior reviews, 9 , 17 and the largest series are summarized in Table 2 .…”

Classification and Characteristics of Pain Associated with Parkinson’s Disease

“…Dystonia is a movement disorder characterized by sustained or intermittent muscle contractions that result in abnormal, frequently repetitive movements and/or postures [ 57 ]. These contractions can cause the most intense pains PD patients experience and can be alleviated by intramuscular botulinum toxin injections as well as adjustment of dopaminergic therapy [ 58 ].…”

Oro-facial Dystonia Following Dental Extraction: Is It Organic or Psychogenic?

“…Dystonia is a movement disorder characterized by sustained or intermittent muscle contractions, causing twisting, repetitive movements or postural abnormalities. It is usually initiated or deteriorated by voluntary actions (1,2).…”