From Morvan's fibrillary chorea to the "mal des ardents".

The authors present a case of Morvan's fibrillary chorea. We compare this observation with cases in the past such as the "mal des ardents", the plague of Athens, acrodynia and the epidemic of Pont St Esprit which were all characterized clinically by pain, burning sensations, hallucinations and insomnia. Since aetiological aspects remain uncertain, the similarity in clinical observations establishes a close relationship between the "mal des ardents" and the clinical features of our patient.