Hemichorea (Hemiballismus)

This report deals with an unusual case of hemiballismus in which the jerky, choreiform movements of the left side of the body (hemichorea) persisted in violent form for seven weeks prior to death. For the control of these abnormal movements various drugs were administered, including stramonium and curare. The treatment with curare was deemed advisable in order to check the ballistic movements. A record of the movements was preserved in a moving picture. The case was of such clinical and therapeutic interest that at the time of death an autopsy was secured. It was a surprise not to find a lesion in the subthalamic nucleus of Luys as was anticipated, since lesions of this nucleus have been reported in other cases of hemiballismus. However, a sizable perivascular lesion was observed in the anterior part of the lateral segment of the right pallidum and the neighboring part of the internal capsule