title: Spinal pseudoathetosis: a rare, forgotten syndrome, with a review of old and recent descriptions.
abstract: We report a patient with a cervical spinal astrocytoma who presented with athetotic hand movements. We postulate that acute pain, related to a syrinx around the operative site, contributed to the athetosis. These movements occur only after protracted, severe loss of proprioception, often in conjunction with an acute, generally painful crisis. Athetotic movements can disappear without change in proprioceptive or motor deficits when pain lessens.
authors.affiliation: Service de Neurologie, CHUV, CH-1011 Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ghika
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bogousslavsky
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001254:Astrocytoma / Q000150:complications / Q000601:surgery; D001264:Athetosis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004576:Electromyography; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D010146:Pain; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D011434:Proprioception; D016634:Radiosurgery; D013118:Spinal Cord Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013120:Spinal Cord Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000601:surgery; D013595:Syringomyelia / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery