Abstract
Sydenham's chorea (SC) is a disorder associated with rheumatic fever and related to Streptococcus-induced immune reaction cross-reactive with basal ganglia antigens. Obsessive-compulsive disorder and other behavioral abnormalities have been described in SC. There are scarce data of cognitive function in this condition. To assess verbal fluency in patients with SC. We have compared the semantic (SVF) and phonemic verbal fluency (PVF) of 20 subjects with SC and 40 controls matched by age, gender and years of school. The scores of the control group on the SVF and PVF tests were 26.3 +/- 5.7 and 18.0 +/- 6.4 whereas the SC patients scored 25.1 +/- 6.9 and 12.5 +/- 8.2. PVF was significantly decreased in the SC group (p < 0.01). SC is associated with reduction of PVF. This finding may reflect disruption of the dorsolateral prefrontal-striatal circuit caused by the auto-immune process characteristic of SC.
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