Saint Vitus Dance

Introduction: Saint Vitus Dance

Description of Saint Vitus Dance

Saint Vitus Dance (medical condition): Brain disease causing involuntary movements or spasms....more »

Saint Vitus Dance: WHAT: Chorea. Chorea (Sydenham's): a neurological disorder characterized by purposeless, rapid, involuntary movements, emotional lability, and muscular weakness. WHY: Sydenham's chorea is seen in rheumatic fever. The chorea may be associated with other rheumatic manifestations or it may present as the sole expression of rheumatic fever. HOW: Typically, the onset of chorea is gradual, with irritability, uncooperativeness, fits of anger, crying, and inappropriate behavior present before the choreiform movements are noted. The movements are rapid and jerky, unlike the slower, rhythmic motion seen in athetosis. Characteristically, on raising his arms above the head, the patient turns the arms so as to oppose the backs of the hands. The patient is unable to sustain a tetanic muscular contraction. On squeezing an examiner's hand the patient can only provide a repetitive, spasmodic grip which is overly pronated and is similar to the motion of milking a cow (milk-maid's grip). The patient's facial expression alternates between frowning, grinning and grimacing. His tongue darts in and out of his mouth. His speech is slurred and vacillates between a halting and an explosive rhythm. The deep tendon reflexes tend to be pendular, i.e., when the knee jerk is elicited with the patient sitting, the leg swings back and forth four or five times like a pendulum, rather than one or two times as in a normal person. Chorea is most common prior to puberty, and in females. It is occasionally seen in adult women but never in adult men. REFS: 1) Jones criteria (revised) for guidance in the diagnosis of rheumatic fever. Circulation 32:664, 1965. 2) Cooper, IS: Involuntary Movement Disorders. New York: Hoeber, 1969.
Source: Diseases Database

Saint Vitus Dance: Related Topics

These medical condition or symptom topics may be relevant to medical information for Saint Vitus Dance:

Saint Vitus Dance as a Disease

Saint Vitus Dance: Another name for Sydenham chorea (or close medical condition association).
  »Introduction: Sydenham chorea
  »Symptoms of Sydenham chorea
  »Causes of Sydenham chorea
  »Treatments for Sydenham chorea

Saint Vitus Dance: Related Diseases

Saint Vitus Dance: Saint Vitus Dance is listed as a type of (or associated with) the following medical conditions in our database:

Causes of Saint Vitus Dance

Some of the causes of Saint Vitus Dance are included in the list below:

Rheumatic fever - perhaps as much as 6 months prior to Sydenham's symptoms.
Streptococcal rheumatic fever
Streptococcus
Streptococcus Group A
Acute rheumatic fever - Sydenham's chorea

Symptoms of Saint Vitus Dance (Sydenham chorea)

Some of the symptoms of Saint Vitus Dance incude:

Involuntary movements - of limbs, face, and torso.
Muscle weakness
Hypotonia (decreased muscle tone)
Clumsiness
Restlessness

See full list of 25 symptoms of Saint Vitus Dance (Sydenham chorea)

Treatments for Saint Vitus Dance (Sydenham chorea)

Treatments for Saint Vitus Dance (Sydenham chorea) include:

Symptomatic
Bed rest
Sedatives
Diazepam
Penicillin - for treatment or prevention of complications or streptococcal relapses.

Read more about treatments for Saint Vitus Dance

Treatment of Saint Vitus Dance: For more treatment information about Saint Vitus Dance, see treatment of Sydenham chorea (Saint Vitus Dance)

Saint Vitus Dance: Article Excerpts about Sydenham chorea

Sydenham chorea, also called St. Vitus dance, is a childhood movement disorder characterized by rapid, irregular,... (Source: excerpt from NINDS Sydenham Chorea Information Page: NINDS)