“Spooning”: A Subtle Sign of Limb Dystonia

Background: The diagnosis of dystonia can be clinically challenging due to its heterogeneous presentation; essential tremor (ET) is a more common neurological disorder, but may be mimicked by other movement disorders, including dystonia, leading to misdiagnosis. Phenomenology Shown: In three patients with hand tremor, two with prior diagnoses of ET, we present examples of “spooning” of the hands, characterized by wrist flexion and metacarpophalangeal hyperextension. Educational value: Subtle dystonic features such as “spooning” may be present during the evaluation of patients with tremor and aid in the diagnosis of dystonia.

Abstract licence: CC BY

A person counts once a day per paper. We keep no cookie and no address: a reader is a hash that changes every day. Any month under five reads shows no number.