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Adult onset simple phonic tic after caudate stroke
Meritxell Gomis1, Victor Puente, Claustre Pont-Sunyer
1Servei de Neurologia, Hospital del Mar, Passeig Marítim 25-29, Barcelona, Spain. 92571@imas.imim.es
Movement Disorders : Official Journal of the Movement Disorder Society
|February 12, 2008
Summary
A stroke affecting the left caudate nucleus can lead to adult-onset simple phonic tics, specifically an "a" sound. This case highlights a rare neurological manifestation without typical Tourette syndrome features.
Area of Science:
- Neurology
- Neuroscience
- Clinical Case Study
Background:
- Subcortical strokes, particularly those involving the basal ganglia, can present with diverse neurological sequelae.
- Phonic tics are involuntary vocalizations that can manifest in various neurological conditions.
Observation:
- A patient developed a simple phonic tic (an "a" sound) approximately three weeks after a subcortical stroke impacting the left caudate nucleus.
- The patient experienced transient mild right-sided clumsiness in the acute stroke phase, which fully resolved within a week.
- No motor tics or common comorbidities associated with Tourette syndrome, such as attention deficit or obsessive-compulsive disorder, were observed.
Findings:
- This case demonstrates a direct association between focal subcortical stroke and the subsequent development of isolated adult-onset simple phonic tics.
- The specific involvement of the left caudate nucleus appears critical in the pathogenesis of this particular tic disorder.
Implications:
- This finding expands the known spectrum of post-stroke neurological deficits, particularly concerning movement and vocalization disorders.
- It suggests that the basal ganglia, specifically the caudate nucleus, play a crucial role in the generation and suppression of vocalizations, and their disruption can lead to tic disorders.
- Further research into the precise neural pathways involved in tic generation following caudate nucleus lesions is warranted.
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