[Benign paroxysmal torticollis in infancy: case report].

Since Snyder reported first twelve cases of benign paroxysmal torticollis in infancy (BPT) in 1969, about 30 cases have been reported mainly in the North America and Europe, but not in Japan. The authors experienced such a case of one-year-old boy. The attack occurred at the age of 2 months for the first time and continued to repeat every 2 weeks periodically. The head tiltings were always noticed when he woke up in the morning and lasted for about 5 to 6 days, but they disappeared during sleep. He tilted his head to the lateral side more often to the left than to the right. There were associated symptoms and signs including irritability, vomiting, gait disturbance, and abnormal truncal posture during the attacks. He did not demonstrate any neurological abnormalities between the attacks. The study of cerebrospinal fluid, caloric test, computed tomography, electroencephalography and brainstem auditory evoked responses were also normal. The frequency of the attacks gradually decreased after the age of 2 years and disappeared at the age of 3 years, and he has not complained of severe headache or vertigo up to 6 years of age. This case is reported to emphasize that BPT has to be included in the differential diagnosis of acquired torticollis. And it is required to accumulate such cases to elucidate its etiological factors.