Tourette Syndrome

Tourette syndrome is an inherited neurobehavioral disorder characterized by sudden, involuntary, and repetitive vocal and motor tics or movements.  Motor tics are sudden, rapid, involuntary muscle movements.  The head and facial area are often involved with movements such as eye blinking or facial twitching.  Vocal tics are sudden, involuntary, recurrent and, often relatively loud vocalizations.  They usually begin with a single sound and may progress to become more complex.  The frequency and intensity of the tics may vary and change over time.  Behavioral problems such as obsessions, compulsions, inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity may be seen in association with the tics.

Tourette syndrome typically appears in childhood or early adolescence.  It is usually apparent between 2 to 15 years of age and occurs more often in males than females.  The cause of Tourette's syndrome is unknown, but it is thought that the disorder is the result of abnormal activity in the basal ganglia area of the brain.

Tourette syndrome is diagnosed through clinical examination and family and patient history.  Diagnostic criteria include the presence of multiple motor tics and one or more vocal tics; episodes several times a day, almost every day, or periodically during a period of more than one year; change in type, severity, complexity, frequency and locations of tics; and onset before 18 years of age. 

Treatment is usually initiated when the patient suffers functional or social impairment as a result of the tics.  The goals of treatment are to decrease the tics and to ameliorate the associated behaviors.  A number of medications can be used to treat symptoms.