Sydenham chorea

Sydenham chorea: Introduction

Sydenham chorea: Sydenham chorea, also called St. Vitus dance, is a childhood movement disorder characterized by rapid, irregular, aimless, involuntary movements of the muscles ... 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.

Symptoms of Sydenham chorea

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

See full list of 27 symptoms of Sydenham chorea

Home Diagnostic Testing

Home medical testing related to Sydenham chorea:

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Sydenham chorea: Complications

Review possible medical complications related to Sydenham chorea:

• Most children recover without serious complications
• Relapses of streptococcal infection
• Rheumatism - about a third of cases
• Rheumatic fever - the complications of an associated rheumatic fever are possible.
• Death due to cardiac complications
• more complications...»

Medical Textbooks Online about Sydenham chorea

Book excerpts: Copyright © 2008 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. All rights reserved.

Wrongly Diagnosed with Sydenham chorea?

• Misdiagnosis of Sydenham chorea
• Failure to diagnose Sydenham chorea
• Hidden causes of Sydenham chorea (possibly wrongly diagnosed)
• Undiagnosed: Sydenham chorea

Sydenham chorea: Self Assessment Tools

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Sydenham chorea: Marketplace Products, Discounts & Offers

Products, offers and promotion categories available for Sydenham chorea:

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Sydenham chorea: Undiagnosed Conditions

Commonly undiagnosed diseases in related medical categories:

• Brain & Neurological Disorders: Undiagnosed:
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  • Concentration Disorders -- Undiagnosed
  • Stroke -- Undiagnosed
  • Bipolar Disorder -- Undiagnosed
  • Schizophrenia -- Undiagnosed
  • Epilepsy -- Undiagnosed
• more undiagnosed conditions...»

Misdiagnosis and Sydenham chorea

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Dementia may be a drug interaction: A common scenario in aged care is for a patient to show mental decline to dementia. Whereas this can, of course, occur due to various medical...read more »

Mild traumatic brain injury often remains undiagnosed: Although the symptoms of severe brain injury are hard to miss, it is less clear for milder injuries, or even those causing a mild ...read more »

MTBI misdiagnosed as balance problem: When a person has symptoms such as vertigo or dizziness, a diagnosis of brain injury may go overlooked. This is particularly true of mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI), for which the symptoms are...read more »

Brain pressure condition often misdiagnosed as dementia: A condition that results from an excessive pressure of CSF within the brain is often misdiagnosed. It may be...read more »

Post-concussive brain injury often misdiagnosed: A study found that soldiers who had suffered a concussive injury in battle often were misdiagnosed on their return. A variety of symptoms can occur in post-concussion syndrome and these...read more »

Children with migraine often misdiagnosed: A migraine often fails to be correctly diagnosed in pediatric patients. These patients are not the...read more »

Vitamin B12 deficiency under-diagnosed: The condition of Vitamin B12 deficiency is a possible misdiagnosis of various conditions, such as multiple sclerosis ...read more »

Read more about Misdiagnosis and Sydenham chorea

Sydenham chorea: Research Doctors & Specialists

Research related physicians and medical specialists:

• Nerve Specialists:
  • Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine
  • Neurology (Brain/CNS Specialists)
  • Pediatric Neurology (Child Brain Specialist)
  • Spinal Cord Injury Medicine
• Neurology (Brain/CNS Specialists):
  • Pediatric Neurosurgery (Child Neurosurgeon)
  • Clinical Neurophysiology
  • Neurodevelopment Disabilities
  • Neurosurgery (Brain Surgery)
  • Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine (Nerve/Muscle/Bone Specialists)
  • Neuroradiology
  • Vascular Neurology
  • Neuropathology
  • Otology / Neurotology (Ear/Hearing Specialists)
• Stroke & Vascular Specialists:
  • Vascular Neurology (Brain Blood Vessels)
  • Vascular & Interventional Radiology
  • Vascular Surgery (Blood Vessel Surgeon)
  • Neuropathology (Brain Diagnostics)
• more specialists...»

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Sydenham chorea: Rare Types

Rare types of diseases and disorders in related medical categories:

• Brain & Neurological Disorders: Rare Types:
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  • Bipolar Disorder -- Rare Types
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• more rare diseases...»

Causes of Sydenham chorea

• 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
• more causes...»

Read more about causes of Sydenham chorea

More information about causes of Sydenham chorea:

• Underlying causes of Sydenham chorea
• Sydenham chorea as a symptom

Treatments for Sydenham chorea

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

Read more about treatments for Sydenham chorea

News Archives for Sydenham chorea

Medical news articles related to Sydenham chorea include:

• Health Care 'Gap' Continues for Minority, Poor Americans
• Finding Fitness on the Dance Floor
• Economic Bad Times Put Minorities at Higher Crime Risk
• Minority Clinics Tougher on Doctors
• Terror Fears Tougher on Minorities, Disabled
• more health news...»

Source: HealthDay News

Evidence Based Medicine Research for Sydenham chorea

Medical research articles related to Sydenham chorea include:

• Acute Rheumatic Fever (Treatment)
• Rheumatic Fever
• Acute Rheumatic Fever (Follow-up)
• Rheumatic Fever (Diagnosis)
• Chorea Gravidarum (Treatment)
• Rheumatic Fever (Overview)
• Rheumatic Heart Disease (Diagnosis)
• more research...»

Click here to find more evidence-based articles on the TRIP Database

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Patient Surveys for Sydenham chorea

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Prognosis for Sydenham chorea

Prognosis for Sydenham chorea: Good. Full recovery common. Usually self-limiting.

More about prognosis of Sydenham chorea

Reseach about Sydenham chorea

Visit our research pages for current research about Sydenham chorea treatments.

Sydenham chorea: Broader Related Topics

• Chorea
• Possibly autoimmune diseases
• Brain conditions
• more types...»

Types of Sydenham chorea

Stories from Users Related to Sydenham chorea

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Article Excerpts about Sydenham chorea

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)

Definitions of Sydenham chorea:

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)