Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Case Reports
. 2004 Oct;75(10):1478-9.
doi: 10.1136/jnnp.2003.030775.

Late recurrences of Sydenham's chorea are not associated with anti-basal ganglia antibodies

N A Harrison  1 , A Church, A Nisbet, P Rudge, G Giovannoni
Affiliations
Case Reports

Late recurrences of Sydenham's chorea are not associated with anti-basal ganglia antibodies

N A Harrison et al. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2004 Oct.

Abstract

Anti-basal ganglia antibodies (ABGA) have been associated with 100% of acute cases and 69% of persistent cases of Sydenham's chorea. We describe two cases of late recurrences of Sydenham's chorea with absence of ABGA. Both patients had several childhood episodes of Sydenham's chorea. MRI imaging of the basal ganglia and exhaustive investigations for other causes of chorea were normal or negative. The absence of ABGA may be evidence against an autoimmune pathology in late and some persistent recurrences. We suggest the likely pathophysiology to be dopamine hypersensitivity of chronically damaged basal ganglia neurones possibly following induction of an autoimmune antibody response in childhood.

PubMed Disclaimer

Publication types