DBS reduced hemichorea associated with a developmental venous anomaly and microbleeding in STN

Abstract

Developmental venous anomaly (DVA) is the most common vascular malformation and is usually asymptomatic. Movement disorders associated with DVA have rarely been reported, except a case of hemichorea and hemiballism caused by DVA in the contralateral putamen associated with hyperglycemia.1 The abnormal movements in that case nearly resolved after treatment with insulin and risperidone. We report a case of DVA who presented with hemichorea without metabolic derangement but microbleeding surrounding the DVA in the contralateral subthalamic nucleus (STN) area. The lesion was unresectable and deep brain stimulation (DBS) of globus pallidus interna (GPi) helped control the pharmacologically refractory symptoms.