Writer's cramp is focal dystonia, occurring during writing. Its prevalence is very low in the general population and this pathology therefore considered a rare disease. Its diagnosis is clinical but treatment is still a problem in developing countries because botulinum toxin is not yet available. There is little data in sub-Saharan Africa on writer's cramp. We report a series of 5 cases observed at the Yaoundé General Hospital (Cameroon). Methods: We carried out descriptive and prospective work, in which we collected clinical, paraclinical, therapeutic and evolutionary data from patients who came for outpatient consultations for the writer's cramp during 2020 at the Yaoundé General Hospital. Results: The prevalence of this pathology in neurology consultation was 0.29%. These were three women and two men, with an average age of 32.8 years. All had non-contributory personal and family backgrounds. They all received a drug treatment based on trihexyphenidyle, muscle relaxants, anxiolytics, associated with physiotherapy. Baclofen was started in the event of failure on trihexyphenidyl, only one patient received botulinum toxin. The outcome was favorable in a single patient, two-thirds of the patients learned to write with the opposite hand. Conclusion: Writer's cramp is an infrequent condition, very often underdiagnosed. It has a real impact on the quality of life because care is difficult, particularly in our context.
| Published in | American Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience (Volume 9, Issue 3) |
| DOI | 10.11648/j.ajpn.20210903.11 |
| Page(s) | 86-89 |
| Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Copyright |
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Writer’s Cramp, Dystonia, Yaoundé
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APA Style
Mbonda Paul-Cedric, Gams Massi Daniel, Noutsa Laura, Fogang Yannick, Djientcheu Vincent De Paul. (2021). Writer's Cramp in Yaoundé (Cameroon): Series of 5 Cases. American Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, 9(3), 86-89. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajpn.20210903.11
ACS Style
Mbonda Paul-Cedric; Gams Massi Daniel; Noutsa Laura; Fogang Yannick; Djientcheu Vincent De Paul. Writer's Cramp in Yaoundé (Cameroon): Series of 5 Cases. Am. J. Psychiatry Neurosci. 2021, 9(3), 86-89. doi: 10.11648/j.ajpn.20210903.11
AMA Style
Mbonda Paul-Cedric, Gams Massi Daniel, Noutsa Laura, Fogang Yannick, Djientcheu Vincent De Paul. Writer's Cramp in Yaoundé (Cameroon): Series of 5 Cases. Am J Psychiatry Neurosci. 2021;9(3):86-89. doi: 10.11648/j.ajpn.20210903.11
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author = {Mbonda Paul-Cedric and Gams Massi Daniel and Noutsa Laura and Fogang Yannick and Djientcheu Vincent De Paul},
title = {Writer's Cramp in Yaoundé (Cameroon): Series of 5 Cases},
journal = {American Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience},
volume = {9},
number = {3},
pages = {86-89},
doi = {10.11648/j.ajpn.20210903.11},
url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajpn.20210903.11},
eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajpn.20210903.11},
abstract = {Writer's cramp is focal dystonia, occurring during writing. Its prevalence is very low in the general population and this pathology therefore considered a rare disease. Its diagnosis is clinical but treatment is still a problem in developing countries because botulinum toxin is not yet available. There is little data in sub-Saharan Africa on writer's cramp. We report a series of 5 cases observed at the Yaoundé General Hospital (Cameroon). Methods: We carried out descriptive and prospective work, in which we collected clinical, paraclinical, therapeutic and evolutionary data from patients who came for outpatient consultations for the writer's cramp during 2020 at the Yaoundé General Hospital. Results: The prevalence of this pathology in neurology consultation was 0.29%. These were three women and two men, with an average age of 32.8 years. All had non-contributory personal and family backgrounds. They all received a drug treatment based on trihexyphenidyle, muscle relaxants, anxiolytics, associated with physiotherapy. Baclofen was started in the event of failure on trihexyphenidyl, only one patient received botulinum toxin. The outcome was favorable in a single patient, two-thirds of the patients learned to write with the opposite hand. Conclusion: Writer's cramp is an infrequent condition, very often underdiagnosed. It has a real impact on the quality of life because care is difficult, particularly in our context.},
year = {2021}
}
TY - JOUR T1 - Writer's Cramp in Yaoundé (Cameroon): Series of 5 Cases AU - Mbonda Paul-Cedric AU - Gams Massi Daniel AU - Noutsa Laura AU - Fogang Yannick AU - Djientcheu Vincent De Paul Y1 - 2021/07/19 PY - 2021 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajpn.20210903.11 DO - 10.11648/j.ajpn.20210903.11 T2 - American Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience JF - American Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience JO - American Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience SP - 86 EP - 89 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2330-426X UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajpn.20210903.11 AB - Writer's cramp is focal dystonia, occurring during writing. Its prevalence is very low in the general population and this pathology therefore considered a rare disease. Its diagnosis is clinical but treatment is still a problem in developing countries because botulinum toxin is not yet available. There is little data in sub-Saharan Africa on writer's cramp. We report a series of 5 cases observed at the Yaoundé General Hospital (Cameroon). Methods: We carried out descriptive and prospective work, in which we collected clinical, paraclinical, therapeutic and evolutionary data from patients who came for outpatient consultations for the writer's cramp during 2020 at the Yaoundé General Hospital. Results: The prevalence of this pathology in neurology consultation was 0.29%. These were three women and two men, with an average age of 32.8 years. All had non-contributory personal and family backgrounds. They all received a drug treatment based on trihexyphenidyle, muscle relaxants, anxiolytics, associated with physiotherapy. Baclofen was started in the event of failure on trihexyphenidyl, only one patient received botulinum toxin. The outcome was favorable in a single patient, two-thirds of the patients learned to write with the opposite hand. Conclusion: Writer's cramp is an infrequent condition, very often underdiagnosed. It has a real impact on the quality of life because care is difficult, particularly in our context. VL - 9 IS - 3 ER -
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