Sydenham's chorea: clinical, EEG, CT scan, and evoked potential studies.
An 8-year-old child developed acute mental confusion, and choreoathetosis without a preceding history of acute rheumatic fever. Serial EEGs showed focal suppression of sleep spindle activity over the right cerebral hemisphere along with high-amplitude polymorphic slow-wave complexes. CT scan studies on 4 occasions and MRI scan failed to show focal lesions corresponding to the clinical manifestations. Results of brainstem auditory evoked potential studies were normal. The short- and long-latency somatosensory evoked potential patterns were abnormal during the acute phase of illness as well as during the follow-up, when the patient was clinically intact. The persistent EEG and evoked potential abnormalities in the presence of clinical recovery from chorea raised questions as to the existence of a subclinical disease process.
Department of Neurology, Louisiana State University School of Medicine, New Orleans 70112.
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Ganji
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MC
Duncan
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Frazier
D000208:Acute Disease; D002648:Child; D002819:Chorea / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005072:Evoked Potentials, Auditory; D005073:Evoked Potentials, Somatosensory; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D012890:Sleep / Q000502:physiology; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed