Sydenham chorea: Sydenham chorea, also called St. Vitus dance, is a childhood movement disorder characterized by rapid, irregular, aimless, involuntary ... more about Sydenham chorea.
Sydenham chorea: Brain disease causing involuntary movements or spasms. More detailed information about the symptoms, causes, and treatments of Sydenham chorea is available below.
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Prognosis for Sydenham chorea: Good. Full recovery common. Usually self-limiting.
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Sydenham chorea, also called St. Vitus dance, is a childhood movement disorder characterized by rapid, irregular, aimless, involuntary movements of the muscles of the limbs, face, and trunk. The disorder, which is considered a manifestation of rheumatic fever (streptococcal infection), typically has an onset between the ages of 5 and 15. Girls are affected more often than boys. (Source: excerpt from NINDS Sydenham Chorea Information Page: NINDS)
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)
Sydenham chorea is listed as a "rare disease" by the Office of
Rare Diseases (ORD) of the National Institutes of Health
(NIH). This means that Sydenham chorea, or a subtype of Sydenham chorea,
affects less than 200,000 people in the US population.
Source - National Institutes of Health (NIH)
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