[Hemiballismus in cerebral infarction].
BACKGROUND
Hemiballismus has traditionally been linked to lesions in the subthalamic nucleus.


METHODS
We studied six patients with hemiballismus presumably caused by ischaemic stroke. They were followed for up to two years.


RESULTS
Cerebral MRI with special projections showed that four out of six patients had ischaemic lesions in other parts of the brain than the subthalamic nucleus. Knowledge of the basalganglio-thalamocortical circuits is used to try to explain the cause of hemiballismus. Neuroleptics and benzodiazepines are the usual medical treatment for hemiballism and were helpful also in our patients. The prognosis in hemiballismus is good; four of our six patients had spontaneous recovery within nine months.


CONCLUSIONS
The prognosis was not related to the site of the lesion.
Hordnes
J
J
Nevrologisk avdeling, Haukeland Sykehus 5021 Bergen. juda@haukeland.no
Moen
G
G
Tysnes
O B
OB
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002544:Cerebral Infarction / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology; D020820:Dyskinesias / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D011379:Prognosis; D020521:Stroke / Q000150:complications