Version 1
: Received: 3 July 2024 / Approved: 3 July 2024 / Online: 3 July 2024 (16:41:22 CEST)
How to cite:
Rossi, E.; Tardivo, I.; CORTESIA, I.; Strano, C.; Davitto Bava, M.; Spada, M.; Torta, F. Beyond Streptococcus: An essential work-up for differential
diagnosis of pediatric chorea. Preprints2024, 2024070367. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202407.0367.v1
Rossi, E.; Tardivo, I.; CORTESIA, I.; Strano, C.; Davitto Bava, M.; Spada, M.; Torta, F. Beyond Streptococcus: An essential work-up for differential
diagnosis of pediatric chorea. Preprints 2024, 2024070367. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202407.0367.v1
Rossi, E.; Tardivo, I.; CORTESIA, I.; Strano, C.; Davitto Bava, M.; Spada, M.; Torta, F. Beyond Streptococcus: An essential work-up for differential
diagnosis of pediatric chorea. Preprints2024, 2024070367. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202407.0367.v1
APA Style
Rossi, E., Tardivo, I., CORTESIA, I., Strano, C., Davitto Bava, M., Spada, M., & Torta, F. (2024). Beyond Streptococcus: An essential work-up for differential
diagnosis of pediatric chorea. Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202407.0367.v1
Chicago/Turabian Style
Rossi, E., Marco Spada and Francesca Torta. 2024 "Beyond Streptococcus: An essential work-up for differential
diagnosis of pediatric chorea" Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202407.0367.v1
Abstract
Background: Chorea is a neurological disorder characterized by random, fluid movements that may affect the limbs, trunk, neck or face. In children, Sydenham's chorea (SC) is the most common cause of acute chorea, mainly following group A beta-hemolytic streptococcal (GABHS) infection. Other autoimmune and metabolic disorders may also cause chorea.
Case presentation: We report the case of a 6-year-old girl who developed chorea following cardiac surgery for mitral insufficiency. One week after discharge, the patient presented with right-sided hyposthenia, slower speech, mild dysarthria and sialorrhea. Brain MRI and intracranial MRI angiography revealed a small vascular focus consistent with a microembolic event. Extensive diagnostic investigations, including serum panels for autoimmune encephalitis, neurotropic viruses and metabolic disorders, were negative.
Conclusion: Considering the patient's history, clinical course, and exclusion of other potential causes, a diagnosis of post-pump chorea was made. This case underlines the importance of a thorough differential diagnosis in pediatric chorea and highlights post-pump chorea as a significant postoperative complication in pediatric cardiac surgery. The patient's motor symptoms improved with symptomatic treatment and follow-up showed good recovery without neurological sequelae.
Medicine and Pharmacology, Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
