Chorea and Migraine: “Hemicrania Choreatica”?

Abstract

The migraine literature contains a number of anecdotal reports in which mention is made of involuntary movements associated with migraine attacks. For the migraine connoisseur, such an association is intriguing for two reasons: (1) might this combination constitute yet another clinical type of complicated migraine (“hemicrania choreatica”)? (2) to what extent does the combination imply a common denominator, potentially clarifying the pathogenesis of the migraine attack and the chorea? The rarity of the combination eo ipso militates against the feasibility of a common, systemic, denominator; if there was one, many migraine patients would also suffer from chorea, either during the migraine attacks or in a more protracted form. Also, one would observe a prevalence of migraine among choreatic patients which exceeds the prevalence of migraine among the population. Because migrainous involuntary movements have never been the object of special study, a synoptic and critical analysis of the dispersed data is presented.