Crack dancing in the United Kingdom: apropos a video case presentation.
We report an adult patient presenting with choreiform movements 4 days after a large intravenous dose of cocaine. These movements were transitory and they normalized a week after admission. We believe this to be the first video case of acute chorea secondary to cocaine--a phenomenon popularly known as "crack dancing. " Cocaine abuse is associated with a wide range of movement disorders, including dystonia and exacerbation of Tourette's syndrome, multifocal tics, opsoclonus-myoclonus, choreiform movements, and stereotyped behavior known as "punding." Transient choreiform movements with a typical duration of 2 to 6 days are recognized by cocaine abusers themselves as crack dancing, but are infrequently reported. We present a video report of a patient with cocaine dependency and choreiform movements that normalized within a week of admission.
Kamath
Shankar
S
Department of Care of the Elderly Medicine, Derby Royal Infirmary, Nottingham, UK. skamath8@yahoo.co.uk
Bajaj
Nin
N
D002819:Chorea / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D016578:Crack Cocaine; D003615:Dancing; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D015819:Substance Abuse, Intravenous / Q000150:complications*; D006113:United Kingdom; D014743:Videotape Recording
D016578:Crack Cocaine