Characteristics of dystonia in the 18p deletion syndrome, including a new case

Postma, Anna G.; Verschuuren-Bemelmans, Corien C.; Kok, Klaas; van Laar, Teus

doi:10.1016/j.clineuro.2009.07.013

« Previous Next »Clinical Neurology and Neurosurgery
Volume 111, Issue 10 , Pages 880-882, December 2009

Characteristics of dystonia in the 18p deletion syndrome, including a new case

Anna G. Postma
- Department of Neurology, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
- Corresponding authors. Movement Disorder Unit, Department of Neurology, University Medical Center Groningen, Hanzeplein 1, P.O. Box 30 001, 9700 RB Groningen, The Netherlands. Tel.: +31 50 361 6161; fax: +31 50 361 1707.
Corien C. Verschuuren-Bemelmans
- Department of Genetics, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
Klaas Kok
- Department of Genetics, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
Teus van Laar
- Department of Neurology, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
- Corresponding authors. Movement Disorder Unit, Department of Neurology, University Medical Center Groningen, Hanzeplein 1, P.O. Box 30 001, 9700 RB Groningen, The Netherlands. Tel.: +31 50 361 6161; fax: +31 50 361 1707.

Received 8 December 2008; received in revised form 3 June 2009; accepted 22 July 2009.

Abstract

Objective of the present study was to evaluate the possible pathophysiology and clinical characteristics of dystonia in patients with the 18p deletion syndrome by describing a new case and reviewing the literature. Dystonia in patients with the 18p deletion syndrome seems to present heterogeneously with a variable age of onset and distribution of symptoms. It may be accompanied with white matter lesions on the MRI. Deletion of 2 known dystonia loci on chromosome 18p, DYT7 and DYT15, or the deletion of another dystonia gene just above the centromere of chromosome 18p may be the cause of dystonia in patients with the 18p deletion syndrome. However, dystonia may also be secondary to structural brain changes often seen in patients with the 18p deletion syndrome.

Keywords: Dystonia, 18p Deletion syndrome, DYT7, DYT15