Botulinum neurotoxin (BoNT) has existed for thousands of years; however, it was not medically utilized until investigations into its therapeutic use began in sincerity during the late 1970s and 1980s. This, coupled with the reclassification of spasmodic dysphonia as a focal dystonia, led to the use of chemodenervation for this disorder, which has since become a refined technique. Indeed, due to...

The prognosis in 30 patients with spasmodic torticollis proved to be unexpectedly bad, only one patient making a full and sustained recovery. Investigation did not confirm previously reported reflex influences on the degree of spasm. Detailed otological investigation did not suggest that spasmodic torticollis originates in vestibular dysfunction. Psychological assessment of the patients showed ...

Twelve patients with idiopathic spasmodic torticollis were compared with 19 normal controls on tests of saccadic eye movements thought to depend upon normal basal ganglia function. The patients were able to make random, predictive, remembered, and self-paced saccades equally as well as control subjects. This suggests that those parts of the basal ganglia which may be damaged in spasmodic tortic...