Athetosis. Like other manifestations such as chorea , it can be caused by a large number of diseases and its presence guides the diagnosis in a certain way.
Summary
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- 1 Features
- 2 Causes
- 1 Other causes
- 3 Sources
characteristics
Athetosis, from the Greek athetos (“without fixed norm”) is a symptom that occurs in 25% of cases of cerebral palsy . They are lesions in the extrapyramidal system that manifests itself in slow, involuntary, uncontrolled and objectless movements. With the muscles of the mouth affected, athetosics have language disorders, but they are good concept builders and their intelligence is not affected as much as in other subtypes of cerebral palsy, such as stiffness or spasticity.
What differentiates athetosis (also called slow chorea) from other disorders is that patients are unable to hold a part of the body in a certain position and it manifests itself in slow, constant and inevitable movements. It generally occurs in the distal portions of the limbs, tongue and throat , although it can occur anywhere in the body.
The slow movements characteristic of this disorder allow it to be distinguished from other disorders such as chorea, although there are similar clinical forms called choreoathetosis.
Causes
- Hepatic encephalopathy
- Drug poisoning
- Parkinson’s disease
- Systemic lupus erythematosus
Other causes
- Central nervous system infections like encephalitis (usually of viral etiology) are related to diffuse and severe damage to all brain tissue, so movement disorders and signs of targeting (such as seizures) are quite common.
- Autoimmune disorders such as systemic lupus erythematosus can also occur with this type of neurological disorders, although it is not the most typical presentation of the disease.
- However, these patients must receive long-term treatment with immunosuppressants such as steroids, so a possible consequence of this is the tendency for infections of the nervous system that could trigger movement disorders, something similar to what happens in encephalitis .
- Athetosis can occur as an abnormal reaction to estrogens , which can be controlled with tamoxifen or other antiestrogens; They are not well accepted because tamoxifen generates follicles that in turn produce more estrogens, in addition to causing depression . Anti-depressants cause an increase in athetosic and Korean pictures . For example: bupropion hydrochloride increases athetosic conditions and citalopram increases choreic conditions, phenylalanine as a master preparation has also been shown to aggravate these conditions.
