SPASMODIC TORTICOLLIS

Abstract

THE OCCURRENCE of involuntary motor activity of the muscles of the neck was described in 1727 by Wepfer¹as "convulsio particularis"; but Wepfer, as well as most observers up to recent times, did not make a strict differentiation of clinical types. Classifications have been attempted, particularly by French authors, the most respected one being that of Cruchet.²Preconceived ideas of the etiology of "tics" and "spasm," based on definitions of Brissaud,³referred almost exclusively to the psychogenic nature of these conditions. As Patterson and Little⁴have stressed recently, the classification of Wilson,⁵given thirty years later, is similar to that of Cruchet; by classifying torticollis under the heading of "neuroses," Wilson showed that he still considered that psychogenic factors were the most important ones in the pathogenesis of this condition. It was not only the lack of success of psychotherapy in the majority of cases