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  • Perinatal/Neonatal Case Presentation
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Perinatal/Neonatal Case Presentation

Consecutive pregnancy with chorea gravidarum associated with moyamoya disease

Abstract

Chorea gravidarum is uncommon movement disorder of pregnancy, characterized by involuntary, abrupt, non-rhythmic movements. It can be idiopathic or secondary to the underlying pathology. A 28-year-old, primigravida woman who was 8 weeks and 6 days of gestation presented with a history of involuntary choreiform movements in the left side limbs and facial twitch for 2 weeks. The symptoms started just after onset of severe emesis gravidarum. There was no meaningful medical history or family history, and she was taking no regular medication. Magnetic resonance imaging of the brain revealed moyamoya disease. The symptoms, as well as the hyperemesis gravidarum, improved with gestational age; however, they were sustained up to 30 weeks of gestation. She delivered 2.61 kg, healthy male neonate at 40 weeks’ pregnancy by vaginal delivery under epidural analgesia. After 3 years later, she got pregnant again, and delivered at 41 weeks of pregnancy without complication. She experienced similar but milder symptoms to that of the first pregnancy until the late second trimester. After the delivery, full evaluation was lost due to her refusal. In this report, we present the case of a patient with chorea gravidarum in which moyamoya disease acts as an etiologic factor and a review of literature with management proposal.

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Correspondence to J C Shin.

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Kim, A., Choi, C., Han, C. et al. Consecutive pregnancy with chorea gravidarum associated with moyamoya disease. J Perinatol 29, 317–319 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/jp.2008.183

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