Case Report
Acute Hemiballismus as the Initial Manifestation of Ischemic Stroke: A Case Report Huiling Huang, MBBS Siang-Hiong Goh, MBBS, FRCS, FAMS
Changi General Hospital, Department of Accident and Emergency, Singapore
Section Editor: Jacqueline Le, MD Submission history: Submitted April 3, 2021; Revision received May 30, 2021; Accepted May 28, 2021 Electronically published July 28, 2021 Full text available through open access at http://escholarship.org/uc/uciem_cpcem DOI: 10.5811/cpcem.2021.5.52678
Introduction: Cerebrovascular disease often presents with “negative” symptoms such as weakness with reduced movement of body parts or sensory loss. Rarely do “positive” symptoms such as abnormal movements manifest in acute stroke, with hemichorea being a very rare manifestation. Case Report: This is a case report of a 62-year-old chronic smoker with no known past medical history who presented with choreatic movements of his arm and leg. Magnetic resonance imaging of the brain showed changes consistent with an infarct in the right centrum semiovale. He was treated with dual antiplatelets and was noted to have subsequent improvement in symptoms. Conclusion: Recognition and awareness of stroke presenting as movement disorders in the emergency department can help prevent delays in diagnosis and treatment. [Clin Pract Cases Emerg Med. 2021;5(3):350–352.] Keywords: Case report; hemiballismus; hemichorea; cerebrovascular disease.
INTRODUCTION Hemichorea-hemiballismus (HCHB) is a relatively rare hyperkinetic movement disorder characterized by involuntary, coarse, and wide-amplitude movements involving the unilateral arm and leg. It is a rare manifestation of stroke and is reported to be most commonly due to contralateral lesions in the subthalamic nucleus and basal ganglia.1,2 In recent years, however, there have been reports of cortical strokes presenting with HCHB.4,5 Based on previous literature, the incidence of HCHB in acute ischemic stroke ranges between 0.4%-0.54%.1,3 We report a case of acute onset hemiballismus as the initial manifestation of acute infarct in the centrum semiovale, which improved after treatment with antithrombotic therapy. CASE REPORT A 62-year-old Chinese male, chronic smoker of 40 packyears with nil past medical history, presented to our emergency department (ED) with intermittent episodes of abnormal involuntary movement of his left arm and leg for three days. He described them as swinging movements of the left arm at the
Clinical Practice and Cases in Emergency Medicine
wrist and elbow joint that could be suppressed with the other hand. There was also associated numbness of the left hand and unsteady gait with gait deviation to the left on ambulation. He had no involuntary movement of the face and no complaint of slurred speech. He also denied any use of long-term medications including illicit substances or traditional medications. There was no family history of any neurological disease. General examination revealed no abnormal finding. On neurological examination, he was noted to have hemiballismus mixed with chorea-like movements over the left upper and lower limbs. There was no pronator drift, and power and sensation was full over bilateral upper and lower limbs. Cranial nerve exam, cerebellar examination was normal. He was noted to be normoglycemic as well. An urgent computed tomography of the brain done in the ED was reported by the radiologist to have no evidence of acute intracranial haemorrhage, acute territorial infarct, or mass effect. The electrocardiogram done in the ED revealed sinus rhythm. The patient was admitted to the medical general ward for further workup for his hemiballismus-chorea. Initial tests
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Volume V, no. 3: August 2021