Sydenham's chorea
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Sydenham's chorea or Chorea minor (historically referred to as Saint Vitus' Dance) is a disease characterized by rapid, uncoordinated jerking movements affecting primarily the face, feet and hands. Sydenham's chorea (SC) results from childhood infection with Group A beta-hemolytic Streptococci and is reported to occur in 20-30% of patients with acute rheumatic fever (ARF). The disease is usually latent, occurring up to 6 months after the acute infection, but may occasionally be the presenting symptom of RF. SC is more common in females than males and most patients are children, below 18 years of age. Adult onset of SC is comparatively rare and most of the adult cases are associated with exacerbation of chorea following childhood SC.
Society and culture
St. Vitus' dance is noted as the malady suffered by the elderly physician from whom Dr. Watson purchased a medical practice in "The Stock-Broker's Clerk" by Arthur Conan Doyle, included in a number of Holmes' stories published collectively in The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes.
American artist Andy Warhol was afflicted with rheumatic fever as a young child, and developed the symptoms of St. Vitus' Dance.
Michael Caine was suffering from St. Vitus' Dance when he was a child, as written in his autobiography What's it All About.
