INFANTILE HYPOTONIA AND PAROXYSMAL DYSTONIA - A VARIANT OF ALTERNATING HEMIPLEGIA OF CHILDHOOD

We report 2 children with early onset of hypotonia and frequent episod es of paroxysmal dystonia. The episodes were abolished even by brief n aps. One of the children developed alternating hemiplegia in the secon d decade. These children seem to have a variant of the now well-recogn ized syndrome of alternating hemiplegia of childhood. In that disorder , episodes of alternating hemiplegia develop before the age of 18 mont hs. This syndrome must be considered in the differential diagnosis of paroxysmal dystonia in childhood.