Paroxismale kinesiogene dyskinesie

Paroxysmal kinesiogenic dyskinesia (PKD) is a relatively rare movement disorder characterised by recurrent episodes of involuntary movements lasting only a brief duration. Typically, attacks are triggered by sudden action and present with dystonia, chorea or a combination of these hyperkinetic movements. PKD can be inherited or acquired and usually it affects young people. We will show that lack of familiarity with this disorder and normal neurological examination between episodes frequently cause diagnostic delays, while patients have a very good response to medical treatment. We describe two patients with PKD and both cases are illustrated with videos: a 33-year-old man with positive family history and attacks for more than twenty years who send us a home-video of a typical attack, and a 19-year-old man with brief dystonic attacks that he could show on his mobile phone. Both patients responded very well to carbamazepine and attacks completely disappeared.

Conflict of interest and financial support: none declared.