Frequency and significance of vocalizations in Sydenham's chorea

Received 25 October 2007; received in revised form 6 January 2008; accepted 18 January 2008.

Abstract

Sydenham's chorea (SC) is a complication of Streptococcus infection characterized by a combination of motor and non-motor features. We have investigated the presence of vocalizations in 89 consecutive patients with SC evaluated during a one-year period in the UFMG Movement Disorders Clinic. Seven (4/3 M/F) of the 89 patients (29/60 M/F) presented with simple vocalizations not preceded by premonitory sensations but in association with facial chorea in five patients. These findings suggest that vocalizations are not a common feature in SC and their phenomenology is quite distinct from the characteristics of vocal tics in tic disorders.

Keywords: Sydenham's chorea, Chorea, Tics, Rheumatic fever, Streptococcus

a Clínica de Movimentos Anormais, Hospital das Clínicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG), Belo Horizonte, Brazil

b Departamento de Clínica Médica, Faculdade de Medicina, UFMG, Brazil

c Departamento de Pediatria, Belo Horizonte, Brazil

d Reta Lella Weston Institute, London, UK

Corresponding author. Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG), Internal Medicine, Av. Pasteur 89/1107, 30150-290 Belo Horizonte MG, Brazil. Tel.: +55 31 32131055; fax: +55 31 32134951.

PII: S1353-8020(08)00041-2

doi:10.1016/j.parkreldis.2008.01.014

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