Active clinical trials for "Dystonic Disorders"

The purpose of this research study is to investigate how the brain and motor behavior changes in individuals with dystonia and other involuntary movement disorders and healthy individuals over time with exercise training.

Myoclonus Dystonia is a disease in which myoclonus distort the precision of movements and so cause a handicap in the movements of the everyday life. Response to oral medications may be incomplete and surgery may cause operating risk. Zonisamide is an antiepileptic drug which could bring a therapeutic profit in Myoclonus Dystonia on the severity of the myoclonus.

Cervical dystonia (CD) is the most common focal dystonia. Currently there are no effective oral medications for the treatment of CD. While botulinum toxin injections improve symptoms, they require repeated injections by a trained physician and some patients stop responding to injections or never respond at all. Therefore, alternative treatment options for CD are needed. One new agent is a drug that targets glutamate receptors that are thought to be involved dystonia. This drug, perampanel, was originally developed for epilepsy and is licensed for use in the USA and Canada for treating epilepsy. The purpose of this study is to test the effectiveness of perampanel in treating the symptoms of CD.

The overall objective of this application is to therapeutically target the dysfunctional premotor-motor interaction in dystonia-and to provide a focused treatment of specific anatomical networks in order to reduce side effects and to improve symptom control over conventional therapies.

Dystonia refers to a condition characterized by involuntary muscle contractions that may cause pain, abnormal posture, or abnormal movements. The cause of dystonia is unknown, but some researchers believe it is a result of overactivity in the areas of the brain responsible for movement (basal ganglia). Lidocaine is a drug used for the treatment of irregular heartbeats. It is given by injection. Recent studies have shown that lidocaine is also effective for the treatment dystonia. Mexiletine is a drug similar to lidocaine used for irregular heartbeats that can be taken by mouth. Researchers would like to test the effectiveness of Mexiletine for the treatment of dystonia. Patients participating in the study will be divided into two groups; Group 1 will take Mexiletine for six weeks then stop. They will remain drug free for one week then begin taking a placebo "inactive sugar pill" for an additional six weeks. Group 2 will take a placebo "inactive sugar pill" for six weeks then stop. They will remain drug free for one week then begin taking a Mexiletine for an additional six weeks. Throughout the study researchers will test the effectiveness of the treatment by evaluating patients using clinical rating scales and neurophysiological studies. In addition, researchers will test patient's reflexes in an attempt to find out where mexiletine works in the nervous system.

The safety and efficacy of Mentor Purified Toxin, Botulinum Toxin Type A, Purified Neurotoxin, injected intramuscularly into the neck, is being evaluated as a treatment for painful and non-painful spasmodic torticollis/cervical dystonia. It is hypothesized that treatment will decrease symptom severity and will not have any significant side effects.

Study is to investigate the use of the Toronto Western Spasmodic Torticollis Rating Scale (TWSTRS) scale in a cervical dystonia population treated with botulinum toxin type A, and placebo.

The aim of this study is to assess longer term safety and effectiveness of Dysport®.

This study will evaluate the effect of transcranial electrical polarization (TEP), also called direct current (DC) stimulation, on focal hand dystonia in people with writer's cramp. In dystonia, muscle spasms cause uncontrolled twisting and repetitive movement or abnormal postures. Focal dystonia involves just one part of the body, such as the hand, neck or face. When people with focal hand dystonia make small and repeated movements with their hands, there is extra activity in the part of the brain called the motor cortex. TEP is a method of brain stimulation that slows down the activity of the nerve cells in the motor cortex. This study may help researchers develop new ways to treat focal hand dystonia. People 18 years of age and older with focal hand dystonia may be eligible for this study. Participants have a neurological examination and are randomly assigned to one of two treatment groups: TEP or placebo stimulation. The TEP group receives stimulation to the parts of the brain used for hand movement, and the placebo group receives sham stimulation, which does not affect any area of the brain. There are three TEP/placebo sessions over a period of 7 to 10 days. The first session may last up to 2-1/2 hours; the other two sessions last 1-2 hours. For TEP, sponge electrodes are placed on the scalp and an electrical current is passed through the scalp and skull to the outer part of brain. Before and after each session, participants have a neurological examination, including an evaluation of the rate and severity of their movement problems. For this assessment, participants do a writing test while the electrical activity of their hand muscles is recorded using surface electromyography (EMG). For EMG, small metal disks (electrodes) filled with a conductive gel are taped to the skin over the muscles being tested. Patients are followed in the clinic the day after the end of TEP treatment for evaluation of their movement abilities and the effects of therapy, such as improvement of handwriting.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the efficacy and safety of bilateral pallidal stimulation in patients with medically refractory primary cervical dystonia.