Rare diseases · Sign or symptom
Torticollis
Wry neck
HP:0000473
What it means
Involuntary contractions of the neck musculature resulting in an abnormal posture of or abnormal movements of the head.
The word torticollis comes from Latin words meaning twisted neck. Spasmodic torticollis is a focal dystonia that affects the neck and sometimes the shoulders, leading to involuntary contractions of the neck muscles, abnormal movements and postures of the head and neck. The abnormal movements can have both tonic and clonic components and can results in pain and discomfort. Spasmodic torticollis is the most common focal dystonia.
Rare diseases that can present with this40
Very common80–99%
6Common30–79%
18- Adult-onset cervical dystonia, DYT23 type
- Autosomal dominant dopa-responsive dystonia
- Autosomal dominant focal dystonia, DYT25 type
- Cardiocranial syndrome, Pfeiffer type
- Cranio-cervical dystonia with laryngeal and upper-limb involvement
- Dystonia 16
- Dystonia 28
- Gorham-Stout disease
- Myoclonus-dystonia syndrome
- Non-syndromic unicoronal craniosynostosis
- Ogden syndrome
- Primary dystonia, DYT17 type
- Primary dystonia, DYT21 type
- Primary dystonia, DYT2 type
- Primary dystonia, DYT4 type
- Rapid-onset dystonia-parkinsonism
- Spinocerebellar ataxia type 17
- Ullrich congenital muscular dystrophy
Sometimes5–29%
14- 7q31microdeletion syndrome
- Aceruloplasminemia
- ALG9-CDG
- B3GALT6-related spondylodysplastic Ehlers-Danlos syndrome
- Congenital fibrosis of extraocular muscles
- Cortical dysgenesis with pontocerebellar hypoplasia due to TUBB3 mutation
- Familial paroxysmal ataxia
- Oromandibular dystonia
and 6 more in this range
The range is how often this sign appears among people diagnosed with each disease — it is not a probability of having any of them. Many of these signs also occur in common, non-rare conditions. A sign on this page is a conversation to have with a clinician, not a conclusion.
Part of the broader category
Also called: Cervical dystonia · Loxia · Spasmodic torticollis
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Start free with EleplanThis page uses the Human Phenotype Ontology (2026-06-23) — Human Phenotype Ontology Consortium, hpo.jax.org. Disease associations from Orphanet (INSERM), CC BY 4.0. Content is educational and is not medical advice.