Three weeks after commencing oral contraception for the first time, a 26-year-old woman with a history of rheumatic carditis and chorea minor presented with sudden recurrence of hyperkinesis. Withdrawal of the contraceptive agent was followed by rapid remission of the hyperkinesis, which suggests a
Chorea is a hyperkinetic movement disorder characterised by excessive spontaneous movements that are irregularly timed, randomly distributed and abrupt. In this article, the authors discuss the causes of chorea, particularly Huntington's disease and the genetic syndromes that may resemble it,