RT Book, Section A1 Mark, Margery H. A2 Watts, Ray L. A2 Standaert, David G. A2 Obeso, Jose A. SR Print(0) ID 55801535 T1 Chapter 36. Other Choreatic Disorders T2 Movement Disorders, 3e YR 2012 FD 2012 PB The McGraw-Hill Companies PP New York, NY SN 978-0-07-161312-5 LK accessphysiotherapy.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=55801535 RD 2024/10/13 AB Chorea (Greek for “dance”) consists of irregular, unpredictable, brief movements that flow from one body part to another in a nonstereotyped fashion. They may be incorporated, especially in milder cases, into more purposeful movements. They may consist of small twitches or larger jerks of any body part. Choreiform movements rarely occur in isolation; rather, they may be often seen in a spectrum with slower, distal, writhing, sinuous movements called athetosis, and described as choreoathetosis. In many disorders in which chorea is a feature, it is not uncommon to see other movement disorders as well, particularly dystonia. The converse of speed and amplitude from athetoid movements are ballistic movements (i.e., fast and large amplitude), which are usually seen unilaterally as hemiballism, although bilateral (paraballism or biballism) may be encountered. Ballistic movements, the most extreme type of movement disorder, are large amplitude, usually proximal flinging of a limb or body part. Although some investigators separate these disorders, others (including the present author) consider ballism to be a severe form of chorea, and in fact many cases of resolving ballistic movements taper down to chorea.1