Chorea and contraceptives: case report with pet study and review of the literature.

ABSTRACT

Chorea is a well-recognized but rare complication of oral contraceptive use. A 27-year-old woman developed right hemichorea while taking an oral contraceptive (OC). No other causes of chorea were found. A positron emission tomography (PET) study with (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose demonstrated a dense focus of increased glucose metabolism involving the body of the left caudate nucleus. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a PET study in a patient with OC-induced chorea in the absence of systemic lupus erythematosus or antiphospholipid antibodies.