Cause Of Chorea Research Articles

Generalized chorea in an infant with semilobar holoprosencephaly

We report chorea in an infant with holoprosencephaly. Congenital structural brain disease has not been a reported cause of chorea. Cranial magnetic resonance imaging revealed small, fused frontal lobes with hypoplastic caudates. Our patient responded to symptomatic treatment with dopamine-depleting agents. It is likely that the mechanism for the chorea was a dysfunction of the striatum. The differential diagnosis of childhood chorea should include holoprosencephaly.

Persistent chorea following cardiac surgery for congenital heart disease

We describe a 6 year old girl with chorea following cardiac surgery, the first such report in Japan. The radical operation for total anomalous pulmonary venous return was carried out at the age of 11 months under hypothermia. Seven days after the operation, a sudden onset of irritability, dysphagia, chorea, generalized, hypotonia, and complete external ophthalmoplegia were seen. These symptoms diminished gradually, but chorea remained. We speculated that the cause of chorea arose from the cardiac surgery under hypothermia. It is necessary to consider 'cardiac surgery' as one of the triggers of certain movement disorders including chorea. We tried treatment with haloperidol, pimozide, and several other drugs; only pimozide was effective in decreasing chorea without any side-effects.

Hyperthyroid-induced chorea in an adolescent girl

Hyperthyroidism is invariably accompanied by nervous system dysfunctions. Irritability, emotional lability and hyperkinesia are the signs and symptoms most frequently observed. Chorea or choreoathetosis are only rarely associated with hyperthyroidism. It is the purpose of this work to describe the case of a young girl in whom chorea was the main manifestation of thyrotoxicosis. The chorea receded and disappeared as the patient became euthyroid. Hyperthyroidism, therefore, is to be considered an unusual cause of chorea and every patient with choreiform movements should be examined also for thyroid function.

Hyperglycemia as a cause of chorea

Hyperglycemia as a cause of chorea

Carbamazepine: An Alternative Drug for the Treatment of Nonhereditary Chorea

Five patients with a moderate to severe degree of nonhereditary chorea were successfully treated with standard anticonvulsant doses of carbamazepine. In two cases, the cause of chorea was related to a streptococcal infection. In another patient, the involuntary movements appeared seven days after severe head injury. The cause in the remaining two patients could not be determined with certainty, despite extensive laboratory investigations. Improvement began within four to 15 days after the initiation of therapy. No side effects were noticed in four patients throughout treatment (3 months to 36 months). In one patient, the medication had to be discontinued after 17 days, because of an allergic cutaneous rash. In view of our results, we propose that carbamazepine be considered as an alternative drug for the treatment of nonhereditary chorea.

Vertical saccades in Huntington's disease and non-degenerative choreoathetoid disorders

Huntington's disease alters oculomotor function and a disorder of eye movements in individuals at risk for the disease may be a marker of the defective gene. It is not known, however, if quantified oculomotor tests can distinguish between Huntington's disease and non-degenerative causes of chorea. Therefore, the vertical saccade system and the stability of visual fixation were studied in patients with Huntington's disease and compared to patients with non-degenerative causes of chorea and control subjects. Huntington's disease but not non-degenerative causes of chorea slow vertical saccades while both causes of chorea produce instability of fixation.

Movement Disorder as a Manifestation of Diphenylhydantoin Toxicity

A patient with a long-standing seizure disorder developed a choreic movement disorder, clinically indistinguishable from Sydenham's chorea when his blood diphenylhydantoin level was clearly in the toxic range. His movement disorder cleared promptly as the diphenylhydantoin level dropped, all other medications being continued. Thus, DPH intoxication should be considered as a rare cause of chorea in childhood.

On Chorea, Lupus Erythematosus, and Cerebral Arteritis

NONHEREDITARY chorea is usually thought to be caused by rheumatic fever.1-4In patients without rheumatic disease, chorea is often attributed to psychiatric problems, or it is given no specific etiology.5-8The terms pure or nonrheumatic chorea have been used for such cases.6,7There are, however, many less common and frequently overlooked causes of chorea which should be considered when there is no evidence of rheumatic fever. In some of these conditions, the movement disorder appears as part of a well-defined process, but in other instances, the abnormal movements are the presenting or major complaint and the diagnosis may be difficult. Among the illnesses in which chorea has been observed are Addison's disease,9ataxia-telangiectasia,10beriberi,11brain tumors,12-14burns in children,15carbon monoxide intoxication,16cerbral lipidoses,11cerebral vascular disease,17,18diptheria,19encephalitis (St. Louis, inclusion body and epidemic),11,18Henoch-Schonlein purpura,20hyoscine intoxication,21hypocalcemia,22hypoglycemia,21hypomagnesemia,23hypoparathyroidism,22incontinentia pigmenti,24isoniazid (INH) poisoning,11

EOSINOPHILIA OCCURRING IN CHOREA

There are few subjects about which so much has been written and said, and yet so little is understood as about chorea. Until the etiology of this disease, or symptom, as the case may be, is determined, we can hope for little headway. It is with a desire to add a bit of evidence along such lines that I present this preliminary report of work I am undertaking. Kowalewsky was probably the first to suggest syphilis as the etiology of chorea. Milian¹then presented two cases with positive Wassermann reactions, and by 1914 he became established in the opinion that all chorea is syphilitic in origin.²Comby³challenged this theory, contending that a positive Wassermann reaction is no better evidence in favor of syphilis as the cause of chorea, than a positive tuberculin reaction is that tuberculosis is the cause. Guillian pointed out that the pathology in