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Query: UMLS:C0008489 (chorea)
 2,102 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Sydenham's chorea (chorea minor, St. Vitus dance, rheumatic encephalitis), described by Thomas Sydenham in 1686, is considered one of the major manifestations of rheumatic fever (1, 2, 3, 4). Clinically it is characterized by involuntary movements, hypotonia, dysarthria, emotional disorders, and less frequently, by other neurological manifestations such as weakness, headache, seizures and sensory abnormalities (1,4). The motor disorders may be generalized or unilateral, in this case constituting a hemichorea (3). Chorea may present associated to other rheumatic fever manifestations during an acute episode, or in isolated form, characterizing the so-called "pure" chorea (5, 6, 7). Its etiology and pathophysiological mechanisms are still unclear, although its relation with a previous pathophysiological group A Beta-hemolytic streptococcus infection is well established (8). There is also evidence of the participation of immunological mechanisms in its pathogenesis, such as the finding of serum anti-nucleus caudatus and anti-subthalamic antibodies (9) and increase in IgG levels in cerebrospinal fluid of patients with chorea (10). In developed countries due to the reduction in rheumatic fever incidence and decrease in frequency of chorea as its manifestation (3, 11), the latter has become rare. However, in developing countries rheumatic fever remains a public health problem. In Brazil, in the last years an increase in the incidence of chorea has been observed as part of the clinical picture of rheumatic fever (12). The present study reports the clinical and laboratory findings of 187 cases of Sydenham's chorea followed-up during the period of January 1980 to December 1990 in two university centers in the city of Sao Paulo, Brazil.
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PMID:Sydenham chorea: clinical and laboratory findings. Analysis of 187 cases. 134 Oct 4

Of 85 consecutive patients with mitochondrial myopathy, 29 had clinically significant central nervous system involvement. Nine of these had movement disorders that included dystonia, chorea, parkinsonism, and myoclonus. Autopsy studies of one patient with ataxia, dementia, and parkinsonism followed by dystonia showed the features of olivopontocerebellar atrophy with additional degenerative changes in the basal ganglia. Postmortem in a further case with myoclonus, deafness, muscle weakness, retinopathy, and ataxia showed symmetrical mineralisation of the striatopallidodentatal system.
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PMID:Movement disorders in mitochondrial myopathies. A study of nine cases with two autopsy studies. 232 72

A 15-year-old boy was admitted at age 10 because of muscle weakness, choreatic involuntary movements, and a profound hypotonia. He was diagnosed as having chorea mollis, a rare variant of Sydenham's chorea. He made a full recovery and received prophylaxis with monthly injections of benzathinebenzyl penicillin for the next 5 years. Six months after discontinuation of the prophylaxis he had a recurrence. The choreatic movements were successfully treated with haloperidol. However, a hypotonia and mild psychiatric symptoms still persist one year later. The clinical course, observed in our patient, is in concordance with the results of recent studies, reporting, that a number of patients with Sydenham's chorea may be left with mild to moderate neurologic and psychiatric sequelae.
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PMID:[Chorea mollis, a rare variant of chorea minor]. 237 43

Simulated gait abnormalities involve weakness of 1 or both legs or ataxia and trembling. The patterns rarely duplicate those of neurologic disability and are usually promptly suspected of being functional by the experienced clinician. As with other pseudoneurologic signs, normal underlying neurologic function must be demonstrated. A dramatic cure is the best diagnostic evidence, and a bias toward organic etiology is warranted by a relatively greater risk in delayed diagnosis. Dystonia and chorea are the signs most likely to be mistaken for functional conditions. While CT and MRI now provide a welcome diagnostic safety net, the variety of hysterical gaits, and probably the effectiveness of "moral" treatment, does not appear to have changed appreciably in the past century.
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PMID:Hysterical gait disorders: 60 cases. 292 86

Myasthenia gravis is an autoimmune disease mediated by antibodies directed against the acetylcholine receptor. Patients typically present with weakness and fatiguability involving predominantly ocular and bulbar muscles. We describe 2 patients with acute weakness, one with a left hemiparetic pattern and chorea, and the other with crossed left hemiparesis and right facial weakness. More typical features of generalised myasthenia developed with time and both had thymic follicular hyperplasia on thymic histopathology. Clinical improvement occurred in both following thymectomy and immunosuppression. These cases exemplify the fact that markedly asymmetric limb weakness can be an early feature of generalised myasthenia gravis.
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PMID:Acute hemiparesis with hemichorea and crossed hemiparesis; unusual presentation for myasthenia gravis. 826 33

Records of 108 patients with lupus erythematosus beginning in childhood (1953-1990) were reviewed; 25 had recorded neurologic findings. This is the largest group of childhood lupus erythematosus patients with neurologic disease that has been reported. The average age of children at the time of diagnosis of lupus was 154 months. There were 22 girls and 3 boys in the group. All patients met at least four of the 1982 American Rheumatism Association criteria for the classification of systemic lupus erythematosus. Average age at onset of neurologic difficulties was 168 months. In 4 patients, the neurologic symptoms preceded the diagnosis: 1 month (spastic diplegia), 1 month (bilateral weakness and spasticity), 24 months (chorea), and 26 months (chorea), respectively. Four patients had neurologic symptoms coincident with the diagnosis of lupus erythematosus. In those patients whose symptoms followed the diagnosis of lupus erythematosus, the average elapsed time until symptoms appeared was 33 months; the single lowest and highest outliers were discounted. Most frequent findings were headache (16/25) and behavioral aberrations (10/25). All behavioral manifestations were depression except in 1 patient. Other prevalent findings included hemichorea or chorea (7/25), cerebrovascular accident with hemiplegia or diplegia (7/25), seizures (5/25), visual loss (3/25), and cranial neuropathy (2/25). Vertigo and myelopathy occurred in 1 patient each. All patients were treated primarily with corticosteroids and azathioprine; in the presence of active disease, the drug dosages were increased with significant improvement in neurologic symptoms. Resolution usually occurred from days to months; most improved in a few days to a few weeks; 3-4 months was the longest period until symptoms subsided.
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PMID:Neurologic characteristics of childhood lupus erythematosus. 855 56

Morvan's fibrillary chorea is a rare disease characterised by symptoms which include neuromyotonia, cramping, weakness, pruritus, hyperhidrosis, insomnia, and delirium. The first case of Morvan's fibrillary chorea to be associated with clinical manifestations of myasthenia gravis with thymoma, psoriasis, and atopic dermatitis is reported. Muscle histopathology disclosed chronic denervation and myopathic changes and in vitro electrophysiology demonstrated both presynaptic and postsynaptic defects in neuromuscular transmission. Serum antibodies to acetylcholine receptors, titin, N-type calcium channels, and voltage gated potassium channels were detected. Plasmapheresis, thymectomy, and long term immunosuppression induced a dramatic resolution of symptoms. The association of thymoma with other autoimmune disorders and autoantibodies, and prolonged and sustained remission with chronic immunosuppression, place Morvan's fibrillary chorea on the range of neurological diseases arising as a paraneoplastic complication of cortical thymomas.
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PMID:Morvan's fibrillary chorea: a paraneoplastic manifestation of thymoma. 985 61

A 52-year-old man was admitted to our hospital in 1997 because of high serum creatine kinase (CK) level. Neurologic findings revealed chorea on the trunk and extremities, mild weakness of proximal muscles, and absence of deep tendon reflexes in four extremities. Serum CK was elevated to 3,494 U/l (normal, below 235). A peripheral blood smear showed acanthocytes in approximately 1% of the red blood cells (RBCs). Very weak expression of the Kell antigens (K2, K4, K5, and K7) on his RBCs led us to make a final diagnosis of McLeod syndrome. Muscle biopsy from the left biceps showed increased variability in fiber diameter, a few regenerating fibers, scattered fibers with internal nuclei, and mild fiber type grouping. Immunohistochemical analyses of dystrophin. merosin, and adhalin were normal. Although McLeod syndrome is a rare X-linked recessive disorder, it is clinically important for differential diagnosis of chorea acanthocytosis and hyperCKemia.
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PMID:[A case of McLeod syndrome]. 1020 74

There is nothing more discouraging than for a patient to be given a specific diagnosis, then to be told that there is nothing that can be done. Physicians are equally disheartened to see exponential progress being made in the understanding of the pathophysiology of a complex disorder but few direct benefits resulting for their patients. Over the past 5 years, molecular genetic research has completely revolutionized the way in which the progressive cerebellar ataxias are classified and diagnosed, but it has yet to produce effective gene-based, neuroprotective, or neurorestorative therapies. The treatment of cerebellar ataxia remains primarily a neurorehabilitation challenge, employing physical, occupational, speech, and swallowing therapy; adaptive equipment; driver safety training; and nutritional counseling. Modest additional gains are seen with the use of medications that can improve imbalance, incoordination, or dysarthria (amantadine, buspirone, acetazolamide); cerebellar tremor (clonazepam, propranolol); and cerebellar or central vestibular nystagmus (gabapentin, baclofen, clonazepam). Many of the progressive cerebellar syndromes have associated features involving other neurologic systems (eg, spasticity, dystonia or rigidity, resting or rubral tremor, chorea, motor unit weakness or fatigue, autonomic dysfunction, peripheral or posterior column sensory loss, neuropathic pain or cramping, double vision, vision and hearing loss, dementia, and bowel, bladder, and sexual dysfunction), which can impede the treatment of the ataxic symptoms or can worsen with the use of certain drugs. Treatment of the associated features themselves may in turn worsen the ataxia either directly (as side effects of medication) or indirectly (eg, relaxation of lower limb spasticity that was acting as a stabilizer for an ataxic gait). Secondary complications of progressive ataxia can include deconditioning or immobility, weight loss or gain, skin breakdown, recurrent pulmonary and urinary tract infections, aspiration, occult respiratory failure, and obstructive sleep apnea, all of which can be life threatening. Depression in the patient and family members is common. Although no cures exist for most of the causes of cerebellar ataxia and there are as yet no proven ways to protect neurons from premature cell death or to restore neuronal populations that have been lost, symptomatic treatment can greatly improve the quality of life of these patients and prevent complications that could hasten death. Supportive interventions should always be offered-- education about the disease itself, genetic counseling, individual and family counseling, referral to support groups and advocacy groups, and guidance to online resources. Misinformation, fear, depression, hopelessness, isolation, and financial and interpersonal stress can often cause more harm to the patient and caregiver than the ataxia itself.
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PMID:Cerebellar Ataxia. 1109 49

Although occurrence of involuntary movements after thalamic stroke has occasionally been reported, studies using a sufficiently large number of patients and a control population are not available. Between 1995 and 1999, the author prospectively identified 35 patients with post-thalamic stroke delayed-onset involuntary movements, which included all or some degree of dystonia-athetosis-chorea-action tremor, occasionally associated with jerky, myoclonic components. A control group included 58 patients examined by the author during the same period who had lateral thalamic stroke but no involuntary movements. Demography, clinical features and imaging study results were compared. There were no differences in gender, age, risk factors, side of the lesion and follow-up periods. During the acute stage of stroke, the patients who had involuntary movements significantly more often had severe (< or = III/V) hemiparesis (50 versus 20%, P < 0.05) and severe sensory loss (in all modalities, P < 0.01) than the control group. At the time of assessment of involuntary movements, the patients with involuntary movements significantly more often had severe sensory deficit (in all modalities, P < 0.01) and severe limb ataxia (60 versus 5%, P < 0.01) than the control patients, but neither more severe motor dysfunction (7 versus 0%) nor more painful sensory symptoms (57 versus 57%). The patients with involuntary movements had a higher frequency of haemorrhagic (versus ischaemic) stroke (63 versus 31%, P < 0.05). Further analysis showed that dystonia-athetosis-chorea was closely associated with position sensory loss, whereas the tremor/myoclonic movements were related to cerebellar ataxia. Recovery of severe limb weakness seemed to augment the instability of the involuntary movements. Persistent failure of the proprioceptive sensory and cerebellar inputs in addition to successful, but unbalanced, recovery of the motor dysfunction seemed to result in a pathological motor integrative system and consequent involuntary movements in patients with relatively severe lateral-posterior thalamic strokes simultaneously damaging the lemniscal sensory pathway, the cerebellar-rubrothalamic tract and, relatively less severely, the pyramidal tract.
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PMID:Delayed onset mixed involuntary movements after thalamic stroke: clinical, radiological and pathophysiological findings. 1115 57


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