Torticollis in an infant associated with cytomegalovirus infection: a coincidental finding?

Benign paroxysmal torticollis is a non-epileptic paroxysmal disorder that begins in the first year of life. It is characterized by recurrent episodes of head tilting lasting from hours to days. These episodes can be accompanied by irritability, pallor, nausea, vomiting, and ataxia, while the patient remains asymptomatic between episodes.

We present the case of an infant with several episodes of lateral neck deviation lasting a few days each, without other accompanying symptoms, and asymptomatic between episodes. Magnetic resonance imaging was performed, ruling out a space-occupying process but revealing bilateral cervical adenopathy. Further testing detected positive IgG and IgM for Cytomegalovirus, leading to a diagnosis of Cytomegalovirus infection and benign paroxysmal torticollis. Both conditions are currently resolving and appear to be unrelated.