Improvement in spasmodic torticollis following treatment and withdrawal from high dose lorazepam--clinical observations.

1. Six consecutive patients with idiopathic spasmodic torticollis (ST) in whom initial amelioration with lorazepam was lost, improved following withdrawal from high doses of lorazepam (3 entered remission or virtual remission; 3 showed marked to moderate improvement). None of 12 control patients improved. 2. The possibility that benzodiazepine-receptor mechanisms play a role in the pathophysiology of ST is proposed to explain these findings.