Gilles de la Tourette syndrome

Originally described in 1885, Tourette's syndrome (TS) or Gilles de la Tourette's syndrome is a childhood disease characterized by a combination of at least two motor tics and one vocal tic that is chronic (more than 1 year) in nature (1)

Tourette's syndrome is the association of:

• motor tics, such as:
  • eye blinking
  • throat clearing
  • sniffing
  • arm thrusting
  • kicking
  • shoulder shrugging
• involuntary vocalisations:
  • may be obscene (coprolalia)

Patients commonly show psychological psychiatric co-morbidity:

• studies conducted at specialist clinics have revealed that pure Tourette's syndrome (without any associated psychiatric morbidity) was observed in only 10 % of the patients
• associated behavioural spectrum of Tourette's syndrome plus includes:
  • most common
    • obsessive compulsive disorder
    • attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
    • impulsiveness
  • other conditions
    • depression
    • impulse control disorders in adults (1,2)

The underlying pathophysiology of Tourette syndrome is not fully understood (3).

Reference:

• (1) Cavanna AE, Seri S.Tourette's syndrome. BMJ. 2013;347:4964.
• (2) Cath DC et al.European clinical guidelines for Tourette syndrome and other tic disorders. Part I: assessment. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2011;20(4):155-71
• (3) Johnson KA et al. Tourette syndrome: clinical features, pathophysiology, and treatment.Lancet Neurology October 28, 2022