Mirror Movement Disorder

Before this case, nobody had recorded a person who had the chromosomal abnormality and would experience mirror movements as well.

The syndrome is caused by an absence of a second X chromosome, leaving those with the disorder with just a single X to do the job. The consequences can be widespread across the body, ranging from heart defects to reduced height, and a failure in ovary development.

In the case of this particular young subject, there were some mild physical abnormalities, and an absence of secondary sexual characteristics. An echocardiogram of her heart revealed an aortic valve with two instead of the usual three flaps, but otherwise all appeared healthy.

Besides poor school work, her speech and other neurological signs were all as expected for a kid at her age. Yet as you can see below, given a task of counting to five on her left hand, her right hand just couldn’t help but join in.

An MRI scan didn’t reveal any surprises, and without the resources to look closer at her brain’s physiology, the medical staff at Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research were left to assume it’s ‘just one of those things’.

As mirror movements are incredibly rare, and Turner syndrome affects just one in 2,000 women, it’s hard to say if it’s a coincidence or if there’s some kind of connection that might tell us more about both conditions. Medical science is often a matter of recording novel discoveries like these and waiting patiently to see if future findings add increments of evidence.

As for the young lady, who’s now 19, we’re happy to say the subject of this unusual case study appears to otherwise be doing well.

"Considering her age, she was started on gradually escalating doses of oestrogen followed by progesterone therapy," the endocrinologists write.

This case study was published in BMJ Case Reports.