Lisuride hydrogen maleate, 0.4 to 5 (mean, 3) mg/d, was given orally to 42 subjects with various types of dystonia. In seven of the eight patients who improved (one with segmental dystonia, one with myoclonic dystonia, two with spasmodic torticollis, two with cranial dystonia, and two with tardive dystonia), the response was confirmed by double-blind placebo substitution. No patients with a suspected structural brain lesion improved. There was no consistent pattern of response among those patients with different forms of idiopathic (primary) dystonia. Lisuride improved some patients, but had no effect on other, apparently identical, patients.