Chorea
| Chorea | |
|---|---|
| Classification and external resources | |
| Specialty | neurology |
| ICD-10 | G25.5 |
| ICD-9-CM | 333.5 |
| DiseasesDB | 16662 |
| eMedicine | neuro/62 |
| Patient UK | Chorea |
| MeSH | D002819 |
Chorea (or choreia, occasionally) is an abnormal involuntary movement disorder, one of a group of neurological disorders called dyskinesias. The term chorea is derived from the Greek word χορεία (=dance; see choreia), as the quick movements of the feet or hands are comparable to dancing.
The term hemichorea refers to chorea of one side of the body, such as chorea of one arm but not both (analogous to hemiballismus).
Chorea is characterized by brief, semi-directed, irregular movements that are not repetitive or rhythmic, but appear to flow from one muscle to the next.
These 'dance-like' movements of chorea often occur with athetosis, which adds twisting and writhing movements. Walking may become difficult, and include odd postures and leg movements.
Unlike ataxia, which affects the quality of voluntary movements, or Parkinsonism, which is a hindrance of voluntary movements, the movements of chorea and ballism occur on their own, without conscious effort. Thus, chorea is said to be a hyperkinetic movement disorder.
When chorea is serious, slight movements will become thrashing motions; this form of severe chorea is referred to as ballism or ballismus.
Huntington's disease is a neurodegenerative disease and the most common inherited cause of chorea. The condition was formerly called Huntington's chorea but was renamed because of the important non-choreic features including cognitive decline and behavioural change.
Other genetic causes of chorea are rare. They include the classical Huntington's disease 'mimic' or phenocopy syndromes, called Huntington's disease-like syndrome types 1, 2 and 3; inherited prion disease, the spinocerebellar ataxias type 1, 3 and 17, neuroacanthocytosis, dentatorubral-pallidoluysian atrophy (DRPLA), brain iron accumulation disorders, Wilson's disease, benign hereditary chorea, Friedreich's ataxia, and Rett syndrome.
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