Effect of the Visual Information Change in Functional Dystonia

Fondation Ophtalmologique Adolphe de Rothschild48 enrolled

Overview

Cervical dystonia occurring only during the writing task is a rare form for which there is no established treatment. Many authors agree that alteration of sensory integration is associated with dystonia. Similar disturbances in the integration of oculomotor information could have a role in cervical dystonia forms involving visuo-cervico-manual coordination such as handwriting. We hypothesize that orthoptic treatment by wearing prisms when writing (i) will reduce the abnormal posture of the head occurring whilst writing and remove the associated nuchal pain; (ii) the correction after a period of systematic wearing of the prisms during handwriting tasks will have a sustainable effect allowing to keep a normal head position after the suppression of the prisms.

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

NON_RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Enrollment

Conditions

Dystonia Dystonic Disorders Torticollis Movement Disorders

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 18 YearsMax age: 71 YearsHealthy volunteers:

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: Case * Presenting a cervical dystonia that occurs only during handwriting tasks, diagnosed by a neurologist specialised in movement disorders * Being treated or not by injection of Botulinum Neurotoxin (but last injection \> 3 months before the initial assessment) Control * No cervical dystonia * Same sex, age (± 5 years), socio-professional level and hand laterality as the cases Exclusion Criteria: Case * Cervical dystonia occuring in other circumstances than handwriting * Neurological disease other than cervical dystonia (e.g. Parkinson's syndrome) * Pain, trauma or pathology of the cervical spine of another cause than cervical dystonia and which have required medical or surgical treatment in the last 6 months preceding the initial assessment Control * Cervical disorders requiring medical or surgical treatment in the last 6 months prior to the tests * Neurological disease affecting the cervical region or the writing hand * Uncorrected visual disorders

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

measure of head movement occurring when writing

Difference of the angle measured with and without corrective prisms during the handwriting tasks

Time frame: 3 months