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Rehabilitation of Dystonia

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Movement Disorders Rehabilitation

Abstract

Dystonia is a syndrome characterized by “sustained or intermittent muscle contractions causing abnormal, often repetitive movements, postures, or both. Dystonic movements are typically patterned, twisting, and may be tremulous. It is usually classified according to its location within the body. Other classifications are based on the age at manifestation, the continuity of occurrence (continuous, intermittent, paroxysmal) and the conditions of occurrence (task-specific, action-induced, spontaneous). Causal factors may also be considered for classification: idiopathic, symptomatic owing to structural lesions, pharmacological interactions, metabolic disorders and psychogenic reactions. Dystonia may occur as an isolated symptom or in the context of other symptoms or conditions arising from basal ganglia dysfunction.

No single treatment produces complete remission of the symptoms, combinations of different treatment modalities often become necessary, and therefore treatment options and rehabilitation will be discussed in this chapter.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Movement Disorders Section, Department of Neurology, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany

    Dirk Dressler M.D., Ph.D. & Fereshte Adib Saberi M.D.

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  1. Dirk Dressler M.D., Ph.D.
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Correspondence to Dirk Dressler M.D., Ph.D. .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurology, Hospital das Clínicas da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

    Hsin Fen Chien

  2. Department of Neurology, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

    Orlando Graziani Povoas Barsottini

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Dressler, D., Adib Saberi, F. (2017). Rehabilitation of Dystonia. In: Chien, H., Barsottini, O. (eds) Movement Disorders Rehabilitation. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-46062-8_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-46062-8_4

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