Quick Facts about Secondary Dystonia
- Secondary dystonias result from apparent outside factors and can be attributed to a specific cause such as exposure to certain medications, trauma, toxins, infections, or stroke.
- Spinal cord injury, head, and peripheral injury are also recognized contributors to dystonia.
- Other examples of secondary dystonias include drug-induced dystonias and dystonias associated with cerebral palsy, cerebrovascular disease, cerebral infections and postinfectious states, stroke, encephalitis, brain tumor, and toxins.
- Secondary dystonia includes dystonia associated with approximately 50 neurological and metabolic diseases.
- A number of secondary dystonias do not present as pure dystonia, but with a mixture of other neurologic features, such as parkinsonian features like slowness of movement and rigidity.
- Secondary dystonias may differ from primary dystonias in that symptoms may not disappear during sleep.
- Treatment is highly customized to the individual and may be directed by what is known about the cause.
- Treatment may include physical therapy, oral medications, botulinum toxin injections, complementary therapy, and several types of surgery.
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