Sandifer's syndrome--a report of one case.

Abstract

The authors report a case of postural abnormality of the head and neck (Torticollis) in a fourteen month old infant with severe gastroesophageal reflux (GER). Disappearance of this abnormality after surgical correction of the reflux leads the authors to confirm the diagnosis of Sandifer's syndrome of which the main features are underlined. In its initial descriptions, Sandifer's syndrome was characterized by the sudden occurrence, usually during meals, of torticollis, consecutive to hiatal hernia in children. This torticollis disappears within days or weeks following surgical treatment of the hiatal hernia. It was later proved that the origin of the torticollis was not the hiatal hernia itself, but the consequent gastroesophageal reflux (GER).