Comparison of clinical characteristics of patients with adductor laryngeal dystonia in the focal and segmental types

Dystonia is a central motor processing neurological disorder characterized by abnormal, often action-induced, involuntary movements or uncontrolled spasms.AimTo compare patients with the diagnoses of focal and segmental adductor laryngeal dystonia at the Neurolarynx Outpatient Clinic of the Federal University of São Paulo.Materials and methodsA clinical retrospective study of data collected from patient registries from 2003 to 2009.ResultsOf 34 patients, 25 presented focal dystonia and 9 presented segmental dystonia. There were 30 females (88.2%) and 4 males (11.8%). A relation with a traumatic event was reported in 11 cases (32.4%). Vocal tremor was observed in 21 patients (61.8%). The mean age at onset, the age at diagnosis, and time between the onset and the diagnosis were respectively 55, 61.3 and 6.3 years. There was no statistical difference between patients with focal laryngeal adductor dystonia and segmental dystonia in the study data.ConclusionThere were no statistical differences among patients with focal adductor laryngeal dystonia and segmental dystonia relating to age of onset, age of diagnosis, gender, time between onset and diagnosis, presence of associated tremor, and relation to trauma.