Clinical Spectrum of Movement Disorders after Stroke in Childhood and Adulthood

Although rare, many different types of hyperkinetic and hypokinetic movement disorders have been described after both ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke in children and in adults. Current knowledge about these disorders comes from single case reports or small series of cases compiled from retrospective studies. Data from hospital-based studies suggest a prevalence of poststroke movement disorders ranging from 1.1 to 3.9%. However, despite the development of emergency care for stroke, these clinical syndromes remain insufficiently recognized. Poststroke movement disorders take place in the acute phase or following a variable delay after stroke onset, and could be transient or persistent. Dystonia is the most frequent movement disorder, occurring after a delay of several months, while chorea and hemiballism are most frequent in the acute stages. Amongst transient movement disorders, limb shaking is associated with high-grade stenosis or occlusion of the internal carotid artery, while myoclonus and asterixis are rare. From a pathophysiological point of view, most of these symptoms are induced by a lesion involving the basal ganglia, the thalamus, or the frontal subcortical pathways. In this article, we updated the clinical spectrum, neuropathophysiological mechanisms, and prognosis of stroke-induced movement disorders in adults and children. Copyright (C) 2012 S. Karger AG, Basel