Hemichorea and Hemiballismus Associated with Cerebral Vascular Malformation Induced by Hyperglycemia: Case Report

Abstract

Hemichorea, hemiballismus, and hyperglycemia associated with vascular malformation is rare. We report a patient who presented with involuntary movements in the left-side with concurrent hyperglycemia. The patient had type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) and a venous angioma in the basal ganglia on the cranial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). A woman aged 49 years presented with flinging and throwing movements of the left upper and lower limb, which she had had for one month. Her neurologic examination confirmed involuntary, irregular, wide amplitude movements of the left limbs consistent with left hemiballismus. She had hypertension and type 2 DM. Her glucose level was 400 mg/dL. Cranial MRI showed a cavernoma in the right subependymal area of the lateral ventricle and a venous angioma in the right nucleus lentiformis, which was confirmed on digital subtraction angiography. Hemiballismus improved after blood glucose level had been regulated in the follow-up period. Especially in the elderly secondary causes should be investigated in patients with acute or subacute onset of choreaballismus. We think that our patient’s clinical presentation was induced by unregulated DM. Venous angioma with chorea-ballismus is rarely stated in literature and we presume the mass effect of venous angioma could be responsible of our clinical findings.