Publication date: May 19, 2025
Status dystonicus (SD) is the most severe form of dystonia, affecting predominantly children. SD is thought to be rare, but the incidence is unknown. We aimed to: (1) assess the number of admissions involving SD (2) describe complications/intensive care unit (ICU) transfers, and (3) evaluate whether these changed with implementation of a treatment pathway. We retrospectively collected data for patients with SD admitted to the Hospital for Sick Children from January 2020 to June 2024. We identified 92 admissions among 48 patients with SD (20/year). Genetic/metabolic dystonia accounted for 45%. Triggers for SD were seen in 82%. The complication rate was 39%, with 27%/19% of individuals requiring ICU care pre/post-pathway, respectively. SD is common, especially in children with genetic/metabolic dystonia, often with identifiable triggers. More data are required to understand the impact of a clinical pathway. Awareness is necessary to mitigate complications.
| Concepts | Keywords |
|---|---|
| Genetic | complications |
| Hospital | deep brain stimulation |
| Sick | incidence |
| intensive care unit | |
| status dystonicus |
Semantics
| Type | Source | Name |
|---|---|---|
| disease | MESH | complications |