title: Somatosensory temporal discrimination tested in patients receiving botulinum toxin injection for cervical dystonia.
abstract: We designed this study to find out more about the relationship between the sensory effects of Botulinum toxin type A (BTX) and the clinical benefits of BTX therapy in patients with cervical dystonia (CD). In 24 patients with CD, we tested sensory temporal discrimination (STD) in the affected and two unaffected body regions (neck, hand, and eye) before and 1 month after BTX injection. In 8 out of the 24 patients with CD, STDT values were tested bilaterally in the three body regions before, 1 and 2 months after BTX injection. As expected, STD testing disclosed altered STD threshold values in all three body regions tested (affected and unaffected by dystonic spasms) in patients with CD. STD threshold values remained unchanged at all time points of the follow-up in all CD patients. The lack of BTX-induced effects on STD thresholds suggests that STD recruits neural structures uninvolved in muscle spindle afferent activation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Psychiatry, Sapienza, University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Scontrini
authors.forename: Antonella
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Conte
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Fabbrini
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Colosimo
authors.forename: Flavio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Di Stasio
authors.forename: Gina
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ferrazzano
authors.forename: Alfredo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Berardelli
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D019274:Botulinum Toxins, Type A / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004192:Discrimination, Psychological / Q000187:drug effects*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009465:Neuromuscular Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D010468:Perceptual Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D014103:Torticollis / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D009465:Neuromuscular Agents; D019274:Botulinum Toxins, Type A