Rhythmic involuntary jerking movements are sufficiently rare in the laryngeal and pharyngeal muscles to merit being recorded with whatever other associated phenomena may be present at the time. Accordingly, the clinical records in five such cases observed at the Mayo Clinic between 1926 and 1929, inclusive, are presented.
REPORT OF CASES
CASE 1.—A man, aged 51, came to the Mayo Clinic on Aug. 10, 1929, because of difficulty in breathing, spasmodic blinking of the eyelids and clumsiness in the use of the right arm. He had had a condition that was diagnosed as influenza on four occasions between 1918 and 1921. Following the last attack, he had noticed intermittent jerking movements of the right arm. About a year later, severe, sharp, shooting pains commenced in the same arm, with increasing stiffness and slowness of motion. In 1922, he became unable to follow his trade as a barber.