Active clinical trials for "Torticollis"

This study will examine the action of sensory tricks on an occurrence known as surround inhibition when there is a disorder of muscle tone affecting a single body part in isolation. Surround inhibition refers to a situation that suppresses unwanted movements, known as dystonia, in surrounding muscles during voluntary actions. There are tricks-various actions-that people use to temporarily stop those unwanted movements. Such tricks can include touching the affected body part, placing an object in the mouth, pulling the hair, and others. Often these tricks are beneficial early in the illness but become less effective as it progresses. This study is guided by a hypothesis that sensory tricks will restore surround inhibition and by another hypothesis that it is the application of the tricks, not simply sensory input, that is effective in doing that restoring. Emphasis is on cervical dystonia, involuntary actions affecting the neck, in which the tricks commonly involve the cheeks and chin. The technique used in the study is transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). Patients ages 18 and older who have cervical dystonia with at least one effective trick and patients with no effective trick may be eligible for this study. There will also be a control group of healthy participants. Participants will be asked to show the sensory trick and may be asked to be videotaped. During the TMS procedure, they will be seated in a comfortable chair, with hands placed on a pillow on the lap. Small electrodes-soft strips that stick to the skin-will be placed on the skin to record the electrical activity of some muscles in the neck that are activated by the stimulation from TMS. In TMS, there will be a wire coil held over the scalp. A brief electrical current will be passed through the coil, creating a magnetic pulse that stimulates the brain. Patients will hear a click and may feel a pulling sensation on the skin under the coil. There may be muscle twitches of the face, arm, or leg. In addition, patients may be asked to tense certain muscles slightly or perform other simple actions so that the coil can be positioned appropriately. Patients will sometimes be asked to bite down and tap their teeth slightly for about 1-1/2 minutes at a time. They will be asked to show the sensory trick. The stimulation is usually not painful, although sometimes strong contractions of the scalp muscles can cause discomfort or a headache. Patients can ask to have the procedure discontinued at any time. The testing session takes about 2 hours, done on an outpatient basis.

There are two phases. Phase I: A single visit which includes a screening, clinical scales, and a MRI scan with simultaneous tES/sham tES in a randomized block design. Enrolls both Cervical Dystonia (CD) patients and healthy controls. Phase II: 5 consecutive days of 30-90 min visits to campus for tES or sham tES. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) measures and clinical scales will also be included on Day 1 and Day 5 visits. Enrolls only CD patients.

Our hypothesis is that botulinum toxin injections (with onabotulinum toxin, incobotulinum toxin, and abobotulinum toxin) given at 10-week or shorter intervals for the indication of treatment of muscle spasms associated with neurological disorders are associated with equal safety and effectiveness as those given at 12-week or longer intervals. We also hypothesize that for those patients who would prefer a shorter inter-injection interval, but for whom their insurance carrier has prevented this, have worse health-related quality of life compared to patients who receive injections at a 10-week or shorter interval. We aim to investigate this hypothesis by collecting demographic and injection data and patient survey responses.

Background: Essential tremor is when a person has tremor, but no other neurological symptoms. Dystonic tremor is when a person also has dystonia. Dystonia is a condition in which muscle contraction causes changes in posture. Researchers do not fully know what areas of the brain cause these tremors, or how the types differ. They also do not know what tests can identify the differences. Objective: To look at differences between essential tremor and dystonic tremor. Eligibility: People ages 18 and older with or without tremor Design: Participants will be screened with medical history, physical exam, and urine tests. Those with tremor will complete questionnaires about how tremor affects them. The screening and study visits can be done on the same day or on separate days. Participants will have 1 or 2 study visits. These include magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and tremor testing. For MRI, participants will lie on a table that slides in and out of a cylinder that takes pictures. Sensors on the skin measure breathing, heart rate, and muscle activity. This takes about 2 hours. Tremor testing will include transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), electrical stimulation of the fingers, doing a movement task, and recording of tremor movements. For TMS, two wire coils will be held on the scalp and a brief magnetic field will be produced. A brief electrical current will pass through the coils. For the other tests, small sticky pad electrodes will be put on the skin. Participants will move their hand when they hear a sound. They will get weak electrical shocks to their fingers. These tests will take 3-4 hours. Participants can take part in either or both parts of the study.

The purpose of the protocol is to determine typical patient response to Dysport in the treatment of adult cervical dystonia (CD).

Botulinum toxin injection in the contracting muscles has proven to be a safe and effective method of relieving pain and lessening dystonic posturing. The current hypothesis is that botulinum toxin works on altering sensory input in the central nervous system in addition to its effects on the neuromuscular junction. Magnetoencephalography (MEG)of brain has been used in dystonia such as writer's cramp and musician's hand dystonia. However, no study has investigated the correlation of central signal changes via magnetoencephalography before and after treatment with botulinum in torticollis patients. Prior studies using somatosensory potentials indicated the possibility of differential activation of precentral cortex in patients with cervical dystonia. Cervical dystonia may result from a disorder of both cortical excitability and intracortical inhibition. The investigators hypothesis is that botulinum injection modulates central inhibition which improves clinical outcome for torticollis.

The purpose of this research study is to determine the physical brain changes in people with cervical dystonia after deep brain stimulation (DBS) surgery and as compared to healthy controls. We will do this by measuring your body's response to transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) before and/or after DBS surgery. TMS is a non-invasive procedure during which you sit in a chair that looks like one you would find at the dentist's office. A nerve stimulator is placed on the wrist of the right hand to stimulate the median nerve; the intensity of the nerve stimulator is gradually increased until the right thumb begins to twitch. A magnetic coil is placed on the scalp on one side of the head, overlying the brain's motor cortex, to stimulate the brain's output to the muscles in the opposite hand. If you are a control subject, and therefore will not/have not have DBS surgery, we will measure the body's response to TMS for comparison purposes. We expect that the electrical differences in the brain may be related to the physical benefits some patients with primary cervical dystonia receive from DBS surgery.

The term torticollis is Latin for "twisted neck". It can be caused by a tightness of the sternocleidomastoid muscle manifested by a head tilt to the same and neck rotation to the opposite side. Treatment includes a comprehensive physical therapy program. Torticollis typically presents itself within the first three months of life. Currently research in infants concludes that a physical therapy stretching program is effective in the majority of cases.1 The study will determine how positioning time correlates to rate of recovery. Overall incidence of torticollis has increased dramatically since the inception of the back to sleep program in 1994.2 The back to sleep program is an educational awareness program promoting families to place infants to sleep on their backs to reduce the risks of sudden infant death. The increase use of semi-upright positioning equipment prior to developmental head control may also be contributing to the increase. Families are placing babies in semi-upright position ie. car seat or swing prior to developmental head control. Head control typically emerges by three months of age. Unfortunately the use of positioning devices occurs prior to the child reaching their third month birthday. The specific aims of the study will include measuring the rate of recovery for infant torticollis. Recovery will be defined as achieving full neck rotation and no head tilt. The length of time spent in developmental positions and positioning equipment such as belly lying, side lying, semi-upright and sitting will also be monitored and recorded. No specific position will be prescribed; the study will monitor positions only. Treatment will be initiated upon referral to Cleveland Clinic Children's Hospital for physical therapy evaluation. Baseline for cervical rotation and lateral tilt will be assessed. Families will be trained regarding a home stretching program and asked to diary home positioning time. Routine plan of care will continue a minimum of every other week until full active range of motion is achieved. At each visit cervical range of motion will be determined as well as parent report regarding home positioning time. Recovery will be defined as full active range of motion, no head tilt, and symmetrical head righting reactions. Post recovery analysis of recovery rates and positioning time will be done to assess correlations.

This study will examine the prevalence of four previously identified non-motor markers in a population of cervical dystonia patients, unaffected family members, and healthy volunteers in an attempt to identify a distinct combination of non-motor symptoms that may be indicative of disease development.

This study addresses postures and range of motion in cervical dystonia (Spasmodic Torticollis). It uses 3D miniature and wireless motion captures sensors, and aims to increase the understanding of the biomechanics of the movement disorders of the cervical column in this pathology. In addition, the clinical state of cervical dystonia of the patients will be assessed, using the Toronto Western Spasmodic Torticollis Rating Scale (TWSTRS). The investigators will compare the results between control and study groups.