Dopa-responsive Dystonia in a Child Misdiagnosed as Cerebral Palsy

Dopa-responsive dystonia also known as "Segawa's syndrome" was first described in 1976. The dystonia typically shows diurnal variations and is more marked toward the end of the day and improves in sleep. This entity is often misdiagnosed in the clinical setting, mostly due to the lack of awareness, and these patients are exposed to various treatment regimens and nonpharmacological measures. We present a boy being treated as dystonic cerebral palsy who showed significant improvement in dystonic symptoms with L-dopa therapy.