ABSTRACT
Although Hermann Oppenheim is usually credited with the introduction of the term ‘‘dystonia’’ in his landmark work published in 1911 (1), he was not the first to describe the abnormal postures and sustained muscle contractions that characterized this hyperkinetic movement disorder. In the 1830s, writer’s cramp was recognized amongst members of the British Civil Service (2). In 1887, Horatio Wood, Chairman of Neurology at the University of Pennsylvania, the first Department of Neurology in the United States, described facial (blepharospasm) and oromandibular dystonia (3). In 1888, William Gowers (4) described dystonic postures in hands and feet, which he called ‘‘tetanoid chorea,’’ in two siblings who were later diagnosed with Wilson’s disease, a disorder that had not yet been named. In 1897, Barraquer Roviralta (5) described the generalized dystonia phenotype, but termed it ‘‘athetosis.’’
