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Transient idiopathic dystonia in infancy
T W Deonna1, A L Ziegler, J Nielsen
1Pediatric Department (Neuropediatric Unit) CHUV, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Insights
Infantile dystonia, a temporary movement disorder, affects otherwise healthy infants. Symptoms resolve spontaneously, aiding in differentiating from conditions like cerebral palsy.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Neurology
- Movement Disorders
- Infant Neurology
Background:
- Infantile dystonia presents as transient abnormal postures and movements.
- Diagnosis can be challenging, mimicking orthopedic issues, cerebral palsy, or CNS diseases.
- This condition is often self-limiting, resolving within months to years.
Abstract:
The authors report eight otherwise normal children who presented with transient dystonic postures and/or movements in infancy. The anomalies appeared during the first months of life, progressed during a period then gradually disappeared at follow-up (from 3 months to 5 years). Differential diagnosis with primary orthopedic problems, cerebral palsy and early progressive CNS disease may be difficult at onset of the symptoms. Transient dystonia is probably one of the numerous mechanisms responsible for some abnormalities of tone, posture and movement in infancy and may account for some of the cases labeled as "transient cerebral palsy". Our cases resemble those described by Willemse (19) as "benign idiopathic dystonia in the first year of life".