Peripheral trauma may be a trigger for the development of various movement disorders though the pathophysiology remains controversial and some of these patients have a functional (psychogenic) disorder. We report 3 cases of shoulder movement disorders following trauma to the shoulder region. Physiology was done in all the patients to extend the physical examination. Two patients had history of recurrent shoulder dislocation and were diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. One patient had shoulder injury following repeated falls while performing as a cheerleader. In two patients there were some clinical features suggesting a functional etiology, but physiological studies in all three failed to produce objective evidence of a functional nature. Shoulder movement following trauma is uncommon. Diagnosis in such cases is challenging considering the complex pathophysiology. The movements can be associated with prolonged pain and handicap, and once established they appear resistant to treatment.
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Background
Tremor is an important phenotypic motor feature in dystonia, but there is limited literature regarding its prevalence and phenomenology.
Methods
This cross‐sectional study included 90 patients with adult‐onset, isolated dystonia from a tertiary care movement disorder center in India. Patients were assessed for tremor in the head and in different body parts. Surface electromyography studies of tremor were recorded of the involved limb in different positions.
Results
Tremor was present in 41 patients (45.55%) who had dystonia, including 21 of 41 patients (51.21%) with cervical dystonia, 15 of 34 (44.11%) with limb dystonia, and 5 of 15 (33.33%) with cranial dystonia. Significantly later age at presentation (47.19 ± 14.55 years vs. 40.39 ± 13.74 years; P = 0.012) and longer disease duration (5.11 ± 5.85 years vs. 2.60 ± 2.57 years; P = 0.004) were observed in patients with versus without tremor. Upper limb tremor was present in 33 patients, head tremor was present in 14, and leg tremor was present in 2. Tremor was present in 17 of 25 patients (68%) with segmental dystonia and in 6 of 9 (66.66%) with multifocal dystonia. Tremor was least frequent in patients with focal dystonia (18 of 56 patients; 32.14%).
Conclusions
Tremor was common (>45%) in patients with primary adult‐onset dystonia. Patients who had tremor were older and had a longer duration of symptoms. Patients with segmental and multifocal dystonia had more tremor than those with focal dystonia. In contrast to some other studies, the current patients had more upper limb tremor than head tremor, and a combination of dystonic tremor and tremor associated with dystonia was more common than isolated dystonic tremor.
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