Sydenham's chorea

Sydenham's chorea
Other namesRheumatic chorea, chorea minor, St Vitus' dance
SpecialtyNeurology Edit this on Wikidata

Sydenham's chorea, also known as rheumatic chorea, is a disorder characterized by rapid, uncoordinated jerking movements primarily affecting the face, hands and feet.[1] Sydenham's chorea is an autoimmune disease that results from childhood infection with Group A beta-haemolytic Streptococcus. It is reported to occur in 20–30% of people with acute rheumatic fever and is one of the major criteria for it, although it sometimes occurs in isolation. The disease occurs typically a few weeks, but up to 6 months, after the acute infection, which may have been a simple sore throat (pharyngitis).

Sydenham's chorea is more common in females than males, and most cases affect children between 5 and 15 years of age. Adult onset of Sydenham's chorea is comparatively rare, and the majority of the adult cases are recurrences following childhood Sydenham's chorea (although pregnancy[2] and female hormone treatment[3] are also potential causes).

It is historically one of the conditions called St Vitus' dance.[4]

  1. ^ "Sydenham Chorea Information Page | National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke". www.ninds.nih.gov. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  2. ^ Maia, Débora P.; Fonseca, Patricia G.; Camargos, Sarah T.; Pfannes, Cláudia; Cunningham, Mauro C.; Cardoso, Francisco (June 2012). "Pregnancy in patients with Sydenham's Chorea". Parkinsonism & Related Disorders. 18 (5): 458–461. doi:10.1016/j.parkreldis.2011.12.013. PMID 22236583.
  3. ^ Kyle, Kevin; Bordelon, Yvette; Venna, Nagagopal; Linnoila, Jenny (18 March 2022). "Autoimmune and Paraneoplastic Chorea: A Review of the Literature". Frontiers in Neurology. 13. doi:10.3389/fneur.2022.829076. PMC 8972589. PMID 35370928.
  4. ^ Mosby's Medical Dictionary. Elsevier Health Sciences. 2021-07-23. p. 1735. ISBN 978-0-323-83162-8.