Chorea-acanthocytosis: a case report

Abstract

Lekhjung Thapa,1 Suman Bhattarai,1 Milan P Shrestha,1 Rajesh Panth,2 Dinesh Nath Gongal,3 Upendra Prasad Devkota,31Department of Neurology, 2Department of Pathology, 3Department of Neurosurgery, National Institute of Neurological and Allied Sciences, Kathmandu, Nepal Abstract: Neuroacanthocytosis is a group of rare disorders. We report a 36-year-old right-handed female who presented with gradually progressive abnormal facial movements, generalized weakness, and lower-lip biting starting 4 years ago. On examination, she had lower-lip ulcer, orofacial dyskinesias, and peripheral neuropathy. Her peripheral blood smears showed acanthocytosis and magnetic resonance imaging revealed atrophied head of caudate nuclei and putaminal hyperintensities on T2-weighted and fluid attenuated inversion recovery images. Work-up for autoimmune and metabolic causes was negative. She was diagnosed with chorea-acanthocytosis, an entity under neuroacanthocytosis syndrome and the patient was offered symptomatic treatment. Keywords: acanthocytes, lip-biting, neuroacanthocytosis, orofacial dyskinesia, movement disorder

Keywords

• acanthocytes
• lip-biting
• neuroacanthocytosis
• orofacial dyskinesia