BACKGROUND: Sydenham's chorea (SC) is a disorder associated with rheumatic fever and related to Streptococcus-induced immune reaction cross-reactive with basal ganglia antigens. Obsessive-compulsive disorder and other behavioral abnormalities have been described in SC. There are scarce data of cognitive function in this condition.OBJECTIVE: To assess verbal fluency in patients with SC.PATIENTS AND METHODS: We have compared the semantic (SVF) and phonemic verbal fluency (PVF) of 20 subjects with SC and 40 controls matched by age, gender and years of school.RESULTS: The scores of the control group on the SVF and PVF tests were 26.3 +/- 5.7 and 18.0 +/- 6.4 whereas the SC patients scored 25.1 +/- 6.9 and 12.5 +/- 8.2. PVF was significantly decreased in the SC group (p < 0.01).CONCLUSION: SC is associated with reduction of PVF. This finding may reflect disruption of the dorsolateral prefrontal-striatal circuit caused by the auto-immune process characteristic of SC.
Adolescent Basal Ganglia