What's New in Paroxysmal Movement Disorders

Paroxysmal movement disorders are rare neurological disorders. Since some of these disorders have an excellent response to medical treatment it is important to consider them in the differential diagnosis of paroxysmal disorders. Autosomal dominantly inherited paroxysmal dyskinesias, in particular paroxysmal kinesigenic dyskinesia, represent the most common type of paroxysmal movement disorder. This article gives an over-view of the clinical characteristics of paroxysmal dyskinesias and summarises new insights into the genetics and pathophysiology of these disorders. We describe the phenotypic variability of specific gene mutations to highlight the close link between paroxysmal dyskinesias and others paroxysmal disorders.