Background: Dystonia is a relatively common feature of spinocerebellar ataxia 3 (SCA3). Childhood onset of SCA3 is rare and typically associated with either relatively large, or homozygous, CAG repeat expansions.
Case report: We describe a 10-year-old girl with SCA3, who presented with tongue dystonia in addition to limb dystonia and gait ataxia due to a heterozygous expansion of 84 repeats in ATXN3.
Discussion: Diagnosis of the SCAs can be challenging, and even more so in children. Tongue dystonia has not previously been documented in SCA3.
Keywords: Spinocerebellar ataxia type 3; childhood onset; lingual dystonia; polyglutamine tract expansion disorder; tongue dystonia.
© 2019 Mitchell et al.