Musician's focal dystonia.

Abstract

Focal dystonia is probably the most disabling professional disorder in musicians, as it decreases the technical level of performances and may end a career. The instrumentalist is progressively unable to control the movement of one or more fingers when playing. Although, the exact cause of the disorder is still debated, it seems that focal dystonia is the consequence of seveal factors. Musician's focal dystonia poses difficult problems of diagnosis and of therapy, which are discussed in this article.