PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Klepitskaya, Olga
AU  - Neuwelt, Alexander J.
AU  - Nguyen, Tam
AU  - Leehey, Maureen
TI  - Primary dystonia misinterpreted as Parkinson disease
AID  - 10.1212/CPJ.0b013e3182a78eb5
DP  - 2013 Dec 01
TA  - Neurology: Clinical Practice
PG  - 469--474
VI  - 3
IP  - 6
4099  - http://cp.neurology.org/content/3/6/469.short
4100  - http://cp.neurology.org/content/3/6/469.full
AB  - Diagnosing dystonia can be challenging and depends on the recognition of subtle clinical signs. Due to clinical heterogeneity, variable age at presentation, and overlapping features with other disorders, dystonia is under-recognized. The presence of dystonic tremor is often a reason for misdiagnosis. We report an illustrative case of a patient with DYT1 dystonia who was originally misdiagnosed with Parkinson disease. Careful physical examination and history-taking can reveal dystonia and prompt appropriate diagnostic studies, which, in turn, can lead to potentially life-changing treatment. Our report illustrates typical challenges in the recognition and diagnosis of dystonia, and serves to increase clinicians' awareness of this disabling, but treatable, condition.