Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsSymptomsCausesDiagnosisTreatment
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
Symptoms
Causes
Diagnosis
Treatment
Chorea is considered a symptom of disease, and not an independent condition. It is generally one of several symptoms, and it rarely occurs on its own. If you have chorea, you will need a thorough medical evaluation to identify the underlying cause.
Chorea can often be managed with medication, and the underlying cause usually needs to be treated as well.
This article describes the symptoms and causes of chorea, including associated symptoms and underlying conditions. It also explains how chorea is diagnosed and treated.
Verywell / Theresa Chiechi
Overview of the Types of Tremors
Chorea Symptoms
You can have a number of movement patterns with chorea. While chorea can manifest with a variety of physical motions, you may notice that you specifically have only a few types of movements and that they typically affect only certain parts of your body.
As the underlying condition progresses, you can start to experience the movements more frequently, you can have movement patterns of chorea that you didn’t experience before, and they can affect additional areas of your body.
New-onset chorea due to a medical condition might occur unexpectedly, infrequently, and for a few seconds or minutes at a time. As the condition worsens, you can experience chorea almost all the time.
Chorea that occurs as adrug side effectcan be intense right when it begins and may occur several times a day and/or for prolonged periods of time.
Symptoms that are considered to be chorea include:
A key characteristic of chorea is that it is erratic and irregular, and it is not rhythmic or pulsing. It can appear to “flow” from one muscle to another or from one part of the body to another. It is not associated with changes in consciousness.
Chorea is a distressing symptom, and you may feel upset about the fact that you can’t control your body. When you have chorea, you could be concerned about the implications in terms of underlying conditions, and you may also be self-conscious about having involuntary movements in front of other people.
Associated Symptoms
The conditions that cause chorea often also cause other movements orneurological symptomsalong with chorea. The presence or absence of these associated symptoms can help guide your diagnosis.
Associated symptoms that commonly occur with chorea include:
Many of these associated symptoms appear similar to chorea and to each other. They might each feel different from each other, however.
If possible, try to take a video of the different types of movements that you experience so you can show your healthcare provider, because you are not likely to have all of them when you go in for your medical evaluation.
Complications of Chorea
Aside from being distressing, the involuntary movements of chorea can cause health problems or injuries.
Adverse complications that can be associated with chorea include:
Getting treatment for your chorea—even if the treatment doesn’t cure the underlying cause—can help prevent some of these issues.
Chorea can develop due to conditions that affect the brain. Genetic abnormalities are what usually cause chorea that starts in adults.Huntington’s diseaseis the genetic disease most commonly associated with chorea. In children, the most common form of chorea isSydenhamchorea.
Conditions that can cause chorea include:
Brain Involvement
Chorea can occur when there is a structural or functional problem with thebasal gangliaand the thalamus, which are areas of the brain that control movement. The cause can be related to dysfunction of theneurotransmittersin these regions of the brain, especiallydopamine, or to a structural issue.
The basalgangliaincludes several structures in the brain—the caudate,globus pallidus,putamen, subthalamic nucleus, and thesubstantia nigra.These small structures work together to regulate the movement of the body. Damage can affect the structures of one or both sides of the brain.
However, damage or dysfunction of these structures does not always result in chorea and can cause other neurological or movement problems.
The Anatomy of the Brain
Diagnosing Chorea
Generally, diagnosis of chorea is based on your symptom history and your healthcare provider’s observation during your physical examination. Your healthcare provider will do a thoroughneurological and cognitive examination, which will help to identify conditions that cause chorea.
Some of the diagnostic tests you may need in the evaluation of the cause of chorea include:
Chorea Treatment
There are several medications used to treat chorea. If you have a treatable underlying cause, such asthyroid diseaseor lupus, the treatment for the underlying condition may stop you from continuing to experience chorea. If your chorea is a side effect of medication, your healthcare provider may stop or adjust the medication to manage your chorea.
Some medications can reduce the movements. You may need to use medication for the long term if you have an irreversible cause of chorea, such as Huntington’s disease or astroke.
Medications used to treat chorea include:
Deep brain stimulationis a procedure in which a stimulation device is implanted in the brain. In some situations, this method can be used to manage chorea when medication is not effective.
Summary
Chorea is a very noticeable symptom that can occur as a result of several different conditions, including Huntington’s disease or side effects of medication. Sometimes chorea resolves on its own. When it doesn’t, you may need treatment for the underlying condition as well as treatment to reduce the symptoms of chorea.
Talk to a healthcare provider if you experience any type of involuntary movements, including the uncontrollable twisting, jerking, and writhing movements seen in chorea. You may undergo diagnostic tests as part of your evaluation. Some cases of chorea are reversible, while others may require lifelong treatment.
5 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Feinstein E, Walker R.Treatment of secondary chorea: A review of the current literature.Tremor Other Hyperkinet Mov (N Y). 2020;10:22. doi:10.5334/tohm.351
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.Sydenham chorea.
Martinez-Ramirez D, Walker RH, Rodríguez-Violante M, Gatto EM.Rare movement disorders study group of international Parkinson’s disease. Review of hereditary and acquired rare choreas.Tremor Other Hyperkinet Mov (N Y).2020;10:24. doi:10.5334/tohm.548
Bashir H, Jankovic J.Treatment options for chorea.Expert Rev Neurother. 2018;18(1):51-63. doi:10.1080/14737175.2018.1403899
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