Post-Pump Chorea—Choreiform Movements Developing after Pulmonary Thromboendarterectomy for Chronic Pulmonary Hypertension Presenting as “Functional” Movement Disorder

Abstract

Movement disorders are a group of diseases which affect ability to produce and control bodily movement. The movement disorders get labeled as “functional” in nature if organic cause could not be found after extensive medical work-up and features from the history and examination are inconsistent with a known neurologic problem. There is tendency to miss an organic cause of a movement disorder if it is too rare to attract much attention. This usually results in referral for psychiatric evaluation. The implications are devastating. The potentially treatable neurologic cause and disability due to distressing symptoms can go untreated, and incorrect mental health diagnosis can cause demoralization and stigmatization. We report here such a case where the patient was initially diagnosed with functional movement disorder but further evaluation and literature search revealed a rare neurologic condition called “post-pump chorea” syndrome.