Objective: To determine the demographic and clinical data of patients with oromandibular dystonia (OMD).

Background: Dystonia is a type of movement disorder characterized by sustained, involuntary muscle contractions, often causing abnormal postures. OMD is a rare type of focal dystonia and basically affects the tongue, jaw, and mouth.

Method: Patients with OMD, both isolated and combined, followed in our Movement Disorders Outpatient clinic between 2004-2018 were enrolled in this study. Age, gender, age at onset, duration of disease were recorded. Type of OMD, affected muscles, etiologies accompanying neurological disorders and treatments were noted.

Results: Sixty-eight patients (38 female /30 male) were included in this study. The duration of disease was 6 (1-29) years and the age at onset was 42.6 (1-88) years. Family history was positive for dystonia in six patients. Idiopathic dystonia was the most common etiology. Twelve patients had task-specific dystonia. The most common type was lingual and jaw-opening dystonia. Thirty-seven patients had isolated OMD, 31 patients had either segmental or generalized dystonia. Only 9 patients reported sensory trick.

Conclusion: OMD is a type of focal dystonia prominently affecting the quality of life. This study is done to add more data to literature defining the clinical features of this rare disorder and to draw attention to this neglected type of dystonia.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/oromandibular-dystonia-clinical-data-from-68-patients/