[STS1-4A-1] Developmental movement disorders in children
Infants and children, early in their life, are prone to demonstrate a variety of motor phenomena or behavioural traits which are non-epileptic and benign in nature. Many of these are considered ‘benign’ in view of the unaffected eventual neuro-developmental outcome; with certain caveats. They are fondly and inaccurately grouped under the umbrella of developmental movement disorders. They are mostly transient, demonstrated by children with normal development during a certain age span and with spontaneous remission. This topic deserves more attention mainly due to the principal large gap in knowledge. Till date, there has not been solid research teasing out the phenotypes as well the plausible patho-mechanism of thesemovements. Most evidences are based on collected case reports and comparison of similarities among cases, over the years.In day to day practice, early onset ‘benign’ movement types, may masquerade as a serious pathology to an inexperienced eye ,and at the same time, pathological movement disorders could also be mistaken as benign movement traits. The aim of this talk is to affirm the educational value of recognising the phenomenology of ‘benign’ developmental movements in children.This understanding may serve in many ways, including to alleviate unnecessary anxiety among both parents and medical professionals, avoidredundant and time consuming investigations and eventual use of medications with potential side effects;and on the samenote, alert doctors that some form of seemingly ‘benign’ movements may actually signal certain intracranial pathologies.