Bilateral chorea following severe traumatic brain injury treated with risperidone

Abstract

A functionally independent man in his 20s with a history of intellectual disability and epilepsy and family history of Huntington’s disease suffered a severe traumatic brain injury. Postinjury, bilateral chorea rendered him dependent for all activities of daily living. Risperidone provided a significant reduction of chorea, decreasing the overall burden of care. Movement disorders are a common sequela of brain injury. Currently, there are no best treatment guidelines for chorea in patients with brain injury. To the authors’ knowledge there have been no case reports describing the effects of brain injury on patients with a primary movement disorder. Risperidone was an effective treatment in this case. Further research is needed to establish guidelines for treatment of movement disorders following brain injury and to better understand the effect of brain injuries on primary movement disorders.