What Is Bimanual Synkinesis?

Posted on Wed, 11 Mar 2015

Question: Is Bimanual Synkinesis an actual medical disease/syndrome/disorder? I've also seen it called Mirrored Hand Syndrome, or Mirror Dystonia. My 5 year old son has mirror hand movements, like if he's writing, coloring or doing something with one hand the other is doing almost the same identical thing.

Answered by Dr. Sumanth Amperayani (38 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
He needs neurological and genetic evaluation

Detailed Answer:
Hi....The kind of mirroring movement you are describing is not normal at any age. But I need to reassure you first that it is not a disease or syndrome or a life threatening condition.

But at the same time it is associated with certain other genetic syndromes like Kallman syndrome / hypogonadism / undescended testis etc.

My suggestions for you -

1. Your son needs a complete pediatric neurological and genetic evaluation.

2. Consult a pediatric neurologist in a center where all necessary tests and thorough genetic evaluation can be done.

3. He also needs "hands on" evaluation by a board-certified geneticist.

4. You are the best judge as far as your kid is concerned. Do not wait further thinking that it will get better with age.

Regards - Dr. Sumanth

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar