[Surgical therapy of spasmodic torticollis. Selective peripheral denervation]

The authors report on their experience with 19 patients treated with a new operative procedure for spasmodic torticollis--microneurosurgical selective denervation of the hyperactive muscles. In comparison with earlier surgical approaches, the procedure, described by the Canadian neurosurgeon Claude Bertrand, is associated with a high success rate and an absence of the sequelae not infrequently seen with other procedures (stereotactic thalamotomy, intradural divisioning of the anterior roots C1-C3, etc.). The procedure is thus indicated whenever spasmodic torticollis still persists two years after onset, despite conservative therapy.