St. Vitus dance is another name for which movement disorder?

• A. Hemiballismus
• B. Wilson disease
• C. Dopa-responsive dystonia
• D. Sydenham chorea

Answer: (D)

St. Vitus dance is an historic term for chorea, a set of involuntary, irregular, dance-like movements. When chorea follows a rheumatic fever due to a streptococcal infection in children, it’s specifically called Sydenham chorea. This makes Sydenham chorea the best match for St. Vitus dance among the options.

Hemiballismus involves abrupt, violent flinging movements on one side of the body and points to a subthalamic nucleus lesion. Wilson disease is a copper metabolism disorder with liver and neurologic features, not specifically chorea tied to this historical name. Dopa-responsive dystonia is a dystonia that improves with levodopa and often shows diurnal fluctuation, not the post-streptococcal chorea associated with St. Vitus dance.