title: Three Cases of Palatal Tics and Gilles De La Tourette Syndrome.
abstract: Five patients with palatal tics and Gilles de la Tourette syndrome have been previously reported. Little is known about the characteristics of palatal tics given that there are so few reports. On one hand, palatal tics may be rare. Alternatively, they may be less well recognized than repetitive eye blinking or sniffing, which are both obvious and, therefore, more often reported. We describe 3 patients with palatal tics and Gilles de la Tourette syndrome. We also review the 5 patients reported in the literature and explore whether there are characteristic features among this group of 8 cases. The 8 patients had the following features: (1) Personal history of other multiple motor/vocal tics, (2) the presence of typical Gilles de la Tourette syndrome comorbidities, (3) positive family history of tics and/or Gilles de la Tourette syndrome comorbidities, (4) the presence of audible "ear clicks," (5) younger age at onset (2 years). We suggest that palatal tics are underreported.
authors.affiliation: Child and Adolescent Neuropsychiatry, Dipartimento di Scienze Mediche e Pediatriche, University of Catania, Italy rerizzo@unict.it.
authors.forename: Renata
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rizzo
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, Utrecht University/Altrecht Academic Anxiety Outpatient Services, Utrecht, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Danielle
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cath
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics and Pediatric Emergency, Azienda Ospedaliera-Universitaria O.V.E. Policlinico, University of Catania, Catania, Italy.
authors.forename: Piero
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pavone
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University Medical Centre Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Marina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tijssen
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, St Georges Hospital, University of London, London, United Kingdom Department of Mental Health Sciences, St Georges Medical School, University of London, London, United Kingdom Department of Mental Health Sciences, University College London, London, United Kingdom Department of Psychiatry, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, Cape Town, South Africa.
authors.forename: Mary M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Robertson
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010159:Palate / Q000503:physiopathology*; D020323:Tics / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology*; D005879:Tourette Syndrome
keywords: Tourette; case reports; characteristics palatal tics; differential diagnosis; palatal movements