Cranial dystonia: double-blind crossover study of anticholinergics

In patients with cranial dystonia, we compared the effects of central anticholinergic, peripheral anticholinergic, and placebo treatments in a double-blind crossover study. One of the nine patients who completed the study improved markedly with central anticholinergic therapy. The three treatments were indistinguishable in the other eight patients except for the higher incidence of central and peripheral anticholinergic side effects with trihexyphenidyl.