Hemiballismus from a parietal stroke in a Parkinson patient.
Stroke-induced hemiballismus (HB) has been reported to improve motor function in people with Parkinson's disease (PD). We report on a patient who developed HB from a parietal infarct. The HB was improved by very low-dose clozapine but the HB did not improve the parkinsonism. This suggests that HB itself, whether from a lesion in the subthalamic nucleus or elsewhere, is not what improves motor function in PD; instead, the physiological function of the damaged structure is the determining factor.
Al-Yacoub
Motasem
M
Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Brown University School of Medicine, Providence, RI, USA.
Friedman
Joseph H
JH
Fernandez
Hubert H
HH
D000368:Aged; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003024:Clozapine / Q000627:therapeutic use; D020820:Dyskinesias / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D020243:Infarction, Anterior Cerebral Artery / Q000473:pathology; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology; D020521:Stroke / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology
D014150:Antipsychotic Agents; D003024:Clozapine