Various involuntary movements, including chorea, ballism, athetosis, dystonia, and difficulty in the execution of voluntary or natural movement in parkinsonism have been described clinically, and their correlation with pathological changes in the basal ganglia were established in the first half of the 20th century.
The classically established symptoms are involuntary movements including tremor, chorea, ballism, athetosis and dystonia; muscular rigidity; hypotonia; disturbances in standing equilibrium; gait; speech; and akinesia (lack of natural movement in daily living).
Bilateral
ballism after herpes encephalitis with thalamic lesion.
Description of the movements ranges from mild chorea to severe
ballism. According to a review of 53 cases of diabetic HH [4], the average age of onset is 71, and there is a female predominance of 1.8:1.
Paroxysmal kinesigenic dyskinesia (PKD) is an episodic movement disorder characterized by recurrent and brief attacks of involuntary movements or dystonia, without alteration of consciousness.[sup][1] Attacks are usually triggered by sudden movement or change in velocity, presenting with choreoathetosis, dystonia, or
ballism.[sup][2] Neurological examinations between attacks usually disclose no remarkable findings.
Because tics may resemble other movement disorders, you rule out stereotypies, dystonia, chorea,
ballism, and myoclonus (Table 1).
Treatment of
ballism and pseudobulbar affect with setraline.
Higher doses of L-dopa led to severe adverse clinical symptoms of irritability and violent, abrupt alternating flinging of the arms (
ballism).
They experienced severe involuntary movements in the form of chorea or dystonia or
ballism or tremor and they did not respond to appropriate prior other medical treatments (anticholinergics, conventional neuroleptics, benzodiazepines).