Familial incidence of Gilles de la Tourette's disease, with observations on aetiology and treatment

Gilles de la Tourette's disease is a relatively rare condition characterized by multiple motor tics and an irresistible compulsion to swear. It was first described by Itard in 1825. Many years later, at the Salpêtrière under the tutelage of Charcot and Brissaud, Georges Gilles de la Tourette made a study of nine cases, including Itard's original one, and published his account of the disorder in 1885. He defined it as a nervous affliction characterized by motor incoordination accompanied by echolalia and coprolalia. He distinguished it from the large number of conditions which previously had been grouped under the heading of chorea. He pointed out similarities between this syndrome and the ‘jumping Frenchmen of Maine’ described by Beard in 1880 and the ‘myriachit’ of Siberia described by Hammond in 1884. Other authors however, question whether these conditions are really part of the same disorder.

Neurological features of Gilles de la Tourette's syndrome

Clinical neurological examinations of 22 patients with Gilles de la Tourette's syndrome and written reports of examinations of seven other patients are reported. Half the personally examined patients had minor motor asymmetries in addition to the typical motor and vocal tics found in all the patients. Thirty-six per cent of patients were left handed or ambidextrous. Electroencephalograms performed on 17 of the 22 patients showed non-specific abnormalities in 12 of them. These findings suggest that a neurological disorder underlies Tourette's syndrome, but they do not clarify its nature.