Tardive Dystonia Treated with Deep Brain Stimulation

Abstract

Tardive dystonia (TD) refers to involuntary dystonic movements and postures which, like tardive dyskinesia (see Chap. 59), are due to the chronic use of dopamine receptor blocking agents (DRBAs) such as antipsychotic drugs and metoclopramide. Young adults appear to be particularly susceptible to this disorder. Although choreiform movements may occur, the principal feature of TD is dystonia which must be present for more than a month and occur either during ongoing treatment with DRBAs or within 3 months of its discontinuation. Dystonic movements in TD differ from classical tardive dyskinesia in several ways: (1) They typically involve axial muscles of the neck and trunk; (2) they tend to be more action specific, occurring intermittently with certain actions or postures and without exhibiting the more regular periodicity of classical tardive dyskinesia; (3) dystonic movements can sometimes be partially suppressed by simple sensory tricks; (4) unlike tardive dyskinesia, TD occurs more often among men than women.

This chapter contains a video segment which can be found at the URL: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-60327-426-5_60