title: Language Impairment in Adolescents With Sydenham Chorea.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Neuropsychiatric comorbidities are frequent in Sydenham chorea. However, cognitive impairment in Sydenham chorea has not been sufficiently described. The objective of this study was to evaluate expressive and receptive language deficits in adolescents with Sydenham chorea.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty patients with Sydenham chorea were compared with 20 patients with rheumatic fever without chorea and 20 healthy controls. Participants were matched for age and gender. Participants were assessed with verbal fluency tasks (phonemic and semantic) and with verbal comprehension tasks (Token Test). Patients with Sydenham chorea were also assessed with the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais Sydenham Chorea Rating Scale.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Performance in verbal fluency and in verbal comprehension tasks differed significantly (P < 0.01) among the three groups. Patients with Sydenham chorea performed significantly worse than healthy control group in phonemic and semantic verbal fluency tasks as well as in the Token Test. The group with rheumatic fever also performed worse than healthy controls in phonemic verbal fluency. Severity of motor signs in Sydenham chorea inversely correlated with performance in phonemic verbal fluency (words beginning with letter S, and total sum of words beginning with letters F, A, and S).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Adolescents with Sydenham chorea show difficulties in verbal fluency and in verbal comprehension. Patients with rheumatic fever also have some degree of language impairment. Future studies must investigate language impairment in difference stages of Sydenham chorea (acute, persistent, and remission) and putative biological markers.
authors: Fundação Hospitalar do Estado de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
authors: Estefânia
authors: E
authors: Harsányi
authors: Laboratório Interdisciplinar de Investigação Médica, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG), Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
authors: Janaina
authors: J
authors: Moreira
authors: Laboratório Interdisciplinar de Investigação Médica, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG), Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Electronic address: r2kummer@hotmail.com.
authors: Arthur
authors: A
authors: Kummer
authors: Pediatric Cardiology Clinic, University Hospital, UFMG, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
authors: Zilda Maria Alves
authors: ZM
authors: Meira
authors: Movement Disorders Clinic, Neurology Unit, University Hospital, UFMG, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
authors: Francisco
authors: F
authors: Cardoso
authors: Laboratório Interdisciplinar de Investigação Médica, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG), Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
authors: Antonio L
authors: AL
authors: Teixeira
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002819:Chorea / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D032882:Comprehension; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007806:Language Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology; D007807:Language Tests; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity; D012213:Rheumatic Fever / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013060:Speech
keywords: Sydenham chorea; cognition; language; neuropsychiatry; rheumatic fever