Late-onset choreoathetotic syndrome following heart surgery in adults with end-stage renal disease

Abstract

Choreoathetotic syndrome is a rare complication of open cardiac surgery that is seen usually in children after surgery for congenital cardiac anomalies. Here, we report two cases of adult patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) on regular hemodialysis who developed acute choreoathetotic syndrome few days after cardiac surgeries under cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). Improvement was seen after an interval with complete resolution in one case. Investigations of the cause have been noncontributory. Long CPB time seems to be the main identified risk factor in these cases. One of the unusual features of our adult cases was the existence of ESRD. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time this complication is described in association with ESRD although the role of this comorbidity in these cases is uncertain.