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Sydenham chorea - Symptom

Alternative Names

St. Vitus dance

Symptoms:

Changes in handwriting
Jerky, uncontrollable, and purposeless movements in different muscle groups (looks like twitching)
Loss of fine motor control, especially of the fingers and hands
Loss of emotional control, with bouts of inappropriate crying or laughing
Symptoms of rheumatic fever (see acute rheumatic fever)

Signs and tests:

There may be a history of sore throat for several weeks before Sydenham chorea.

Blood tests that may show signs of rheumatic fever include erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR).

Different blood tests may be done to identify whether the child may have a strep infection.

Reviewed last on: 9/22/2008
Daniel B. Hoch, PhD, MD, Assistant Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

References

Gerber MA. Group A streptococcus. In: Kliegman RM, Behrman RE, Jenson HB, Stanton BF, eds. Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics. 18th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier; 2007: chap 182.

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