Delayed and severe but transient Tourette syndrome after head injury.

A previously well and intellectually normal 7(1/2)-year-old girl developed an acute and severe Tourette syndrome 15 months after sustaining a severe head injury. The patient displayed a dramatic response to haloperidol. Twelve months after the onset of Tourette syndrome the haloperidol was withdrawn, and there was no relapse of either her motor or phonic tics. Seven years after the head injury the patient remains tic free but demonstrates significant emotional and behavioral sequelae. The patient's brain magnetic resonance imaging findings were consistent with those reported previously in adults with Tourette syndrome.