Miyasaki Janis M
Morton and Gloria Shulman Movement Disorders Centre, Krembil Neuroscience Centre, University Health Network, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
Handb Clin Neurol. 2011;100:335-46. doi: 10.1016/B978-0-444-52014-2.00026-4.
Chorea is uncommonly caused by toxins. Anecdotal evidence from cases of toxin-induced chorea assists in our understanding of neurodegenerative diseases associated with chorea. Beginning in medieval Europe with ergotism and the "fire that twisted people," spanning to crack dancing in contemporary times and the coexistence of alcohol abuse with chorea, toxins may exert direct effects to enhance mesolimbic dopamine transmission or indirect effects through gamma-aminobutyric acid modulation. The following chapter will discuss toxins associated with chorea and the presumed pathophysiology underlying the movement disorders in these case series.
