CASE REPORT
Post-COVID-19 Sydenham Chorea: A Case Report
José Augusto Camargo1, 2 , *, Stéfani Augustoli Morcillo2
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2023Volume: 17
E-location ID: e1874205X2302210
Publisher ID: e1874205X2302210
DOI: 10.2174/1874205X-v17-e230403-2022-13
Article History:
Received Date: 19/10/2022Revision Received Date: 06/02/2023
Acceptance Date: 08/02/2023
Electronic publication date: 07/04/2023
Collection year: 2023
open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
Background:
Sydenham chorea, or rheumatic chorea, is a movement disorder that is more prevalent among young people, with a mean age at symptom onset between 8 and 9 years. The condition is more common in females. Sydenham chorea is associated with rheumatic fever and is considered the most common cause of acute chorea in children. We believe that the present case is worth reporting since the occurrence of Sydenham chorea as a post-COVID-19 sequela has not been described in Brazil.
Case Presentation:
We report here the case of a 14-year-old girl with symptoms of acute chorea that emerged 15 days after treatment resolution of COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2 or severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2). Brain computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging scans showed no changes, and the laboratory tests revealed no signs of an active infectious process. In contrast, neurological positron-emission tomography/CT showed mild glycolytic hypometabolism in the bilateral mesial frontal region. Administration of an oral anticonvulsant resulted in a marked improvement in her symptoms.
Conclusion:
Despite major efforts of the scientific community for discovering treatments, preventive methods, mechanisms of action, and possible sequelae of SARS-CoV-2, there is still a long way to go to better understand this devastating pathological agent that has affected the global population.
