The "shirt collar sign" of cervical dystonia.

The diagnosis of cervical dystonia (CD) is clinical. We describe a physical examination observation that has been noted in CD patients. There is a tendency for their shirt collars to be shifted to one side. We validated this apparently consistent finding by having blinded evaluators rating the symmetry of the shirt collars in CD and non-cervical dystonia control subjects. A high correlation was found between the physical finding which we call "shirt collar sign" and the diagnosis. "Shirt collar sign" may be a helpful sign in diagnosing CD.