Skip to main content
PMC home page
Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry logoLink to Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry
. 1984 Jan;47(1):1–8. doi: 10.1136/jnnp.47.1.1

A clinical study of Gilles de la Tourette syndrome in the United Kingdom.

A J Lees, M Robertson, M R Trimble, N M Murray
PMCID: PMC1027633  PMID: 6582230

Abstract

The clinical features of 53 British-born patients with Gilles de la Tourette syndrome are described. The mean age at onset of body tics was seven years and for vocalisations 11 years. Coprolalia was present in 39%, copropraxia in 21%, echolalia in 46% and echopraxia in 21%. Complicated antics and mannerisms were also common, often involving the compulsive touching of objects or self-injurious behaviour. Forty-six per cent of cases had a family history of tics in a single close relative and in two individuals a further member of the family had Gilles de la Tourette syndrome. Focal dystonia was present in four patients who had never received neuroleptics drugs and chorea was seen in two other untreated patients. In three patients acoustic startle consistently induced brief eye blink followed by a whole body jerk or jump. Rapid repetitive movements of the hands increased the frequency and severity of tics in 13 patients, but the performance of mental arithmetic under time pressure had a much more unpredictable effect. Electroencephalographic abnormalities occurred in eight (13%) but no definite CT brain scan abnormalities were detected. The incidence of left handedness did not differ from that in the general population and no evidence to suggest organic impairment was found on neuropsychological testing. This study provides no support for the notion that Gilles de la Tourette syndrome is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system but provides some evidence for heterogeneity.

Full text

PDF
1

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Annett M. A classification of hand preference by association analysis. Br J Psychol. 1970 Aug;61(3):303–321. doi: 10.1111/j.2044-8295.1970.tb01248.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Bergen D., Tanner C. M., Wilson R. The electroencephalogram in Tourette syndrome. Ann Neurol. 1982 Apr;11(4):382–385. doi: 10.1002/ana.410110411. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Bleeker H. E. Gilles de la Tourette's syndrome with direct evidence of organicity. Psychiatr Clin (Basel) 1978;11(3):147–154. doi: 10.1159/000283745. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Caine E. D., Polinsky R. J. Tardive dyskinesia in persons with Gilles de la Tourette's disease. Arch Neurol. 1981 Jul;38(7):471–472. doi: 10.1001/archneur.1981.00510070105032. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Caparulo B. K., Cohen D. J., Rothman S. L., Young J. G., Katz J. D., Shaywitz S. E., Shaywitz B. A. Computed tomographic brain scanning in children with developmental neuropsychiatric disorders. J Am Acad Child Psychiatry. 1981 Spring;20(2):338–357. doi: 10.1016/s0002-7138(09)60993-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Cohen D. J., Shaywitz B. A., Caparulo B., Young J. G., Bowers M. B., Jr Chronic, multiple tics of Gilles de la Tourette's disease. CSF acid monoamine metabolites after probenecid administration. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1978 Feb;35(2):245–250. doi: 10.1001/archpsyc.1978.01770260123015. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Corbett J. A., Mathews A. M., Connell P. H., Shapiro D. A. Tics and Gilles de la Tourette's syndrome: a follow-up study and critical review. Br J Psychiatry. 1969 Nov;115(528):1229–1241. doi: 10.1192/bjp.115.528.1229. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Feild J. R., Corbon K. B., Goldstein N. P., Klass D. W. Gilles de la Tourette's syndrome. Neurology. 1966 May;16(5):453–462. doi: 10.1212/wnl.16.5.453. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Fernando S. J. Gilles de la Tourette's syndrome. A report on four cases and a review of published case reports. Br J Psychiatry. 1967 Jun;113(499):607–617. doi: 10.1192/bjp.113.499.607. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Gastaut H., Villeneuve A. The startle disease or hyperekplexia. Pathological surprise reaction. J Neurol Sci. 1967 Nov-Dec;5(3):523–542. doi: 10.1016/0022-510x(67)90090-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Klawans H. L., Falk D. K., Nausieda P. A., Weiner W. J. Gilles de la Tourette syndrome after long-term chlorpromazine therapy. Neurology. 1978 Oct;28(10):1064–1066. doi: 10.1212/wnl.28.10.1064. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Lundh H., Tunving K. An extrapyramidal choreiform syndrome caused by amphetamine addiction. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 1981 Aug;44(8):728–730. doi: 10.1136/jnnp.44.8.728. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Murray T. J. Dr Samuel Johnson's movement disorder. Br Med J. 1979 Jun 16;1(6178):1610–1614. doi: 10.1136/bmj.1.6178.1610. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Nee L. E., Caine E. D., Polinsky R. J., Eldridge R., Ebert M. H. Gilles de la Tourette syndrome: clinical and family study of 50 cases. Ann Neurol. 1980 Jan;7(1):41–49. doi: 10.1002/ana.410070109. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Obeso J. A., Rothwell J. C., Marsden C. D. Simple tics in Gilles de la Tourette's syndrome are not prefaced by a normal premovement EEG potential. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 1981 Aug;44(8):735–738. doi: 10.1136/jnnp.44.8.735. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. PRECHTL H. F., STEMMER J. The choreiform syndrome in children. Dev Med Child Neurol. 1962 Apr;4:119–127. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-8749.1962.tb03120.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Pulst S. M., Walshe T. M., Romero J. A. Carbon monoxide poisoning with features of Gilles de la Tourette's syndrome. Arch Neurol. 1983 Jul;40(7):443–444. doi: 10.1001/archneur.1983.04050070073019. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Simons R. C. The resolution of the Latah paradox. J Nerv Ment Dis. 1980 Apr;168(4):195–206. doi: 10.1097/00005053-198004000-00001. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Sweet R. D., Solomon G. E., Wayne H., Shapiro E., Shapiro A. K. Neurological features of Gilles de la Tourette's syndrome. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 1973 Feb;36(1):1–9. doi: 10.1136/jnnp.36.1.1. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES