Chorea

: Irregular, spasmodic, involuntary

movements of the limbs or facial muscles,
often accompanied by hypotonia. The location
of the responsible cerebral lesion is not
known.
The term hemichorea refers to chorea of one side
of the body, such as chorea of one arm and not both
These 'dance-like' movements of chorea often
occur with athetosis, which adds twisting and
writhing movements. Lumps called nodules may
also form under the skin in bony areas.

Causes of Chorea:

1. Huntington's disease
i. neurological progressive disorder.. it
is fairly rare, affecting fewer than 1
in 10,000 people
2. Wilson's disease
i. Oral contraception
3. Pregnancy
Chorea gravidarum occurs during
pregnancy, often in patients who had rheumatic
 fever. Chorea usually begins during the 1st
trimester and resolves spontaneously by or after
delivery.

4. Polycythaemia
5. Systemic lupus erythematosus

6. Sydenham's chorea
Twenty percent of children and adolescents with
rheumatic fever develop Sydenham's chorea as a
complication(also called St. Vitus' dance or
Sydenham's chorea)
7. Hyperthyroidism
8. Hypoparathyroidism

9. Chorea may also be caused by drugs

(levodopa, anti-convulsants, anti-psychotics),
metabolic disorders, endocrine disorders, and
vascular incidents.
Chorea and athetosis aren't diseases;
rather they are symptoms that can result
from several very different diseases.
People with chorea and athetosis have
abnormalities in the basal ganglia of the
brain.)
Chorea sometimes develops in the elderly
for no apparent reason and affects
particularly the muscles in and around the
mouth. It also can affect women in the first
 3 months of pregnancy, but it disappears
without treatment shortly

Treatment
• Chorea that develops as a drug's
side effect may improve if the drug
is stopped, but the chorea doesn't
always disappear. Drugs that block
dopamine's action, such as
antipsychotic drugs, may help
control the abnormal movements

Cause

Huntington's A common treatment is dopaminergic antagonists, although

disease treatment is largely supportive.

Haloperidol, carbamazepine and valproic acid.Usually

Sydenham's
chorea involves antibiotic drugs to treat the infection, followed
by drug therapy to prevent recurrence.