Crack dancing in the United Kingdom: Apropos a video case presentation

✍ Scribed by Shankar Kamath; Nin Bajaj

• Book ID: 102506742
• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2007
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 46 KB
• Volume: 22
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0885-3185
• DOI: 10.1002/mds.21430

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

We report an adult patient presenting with choreiform movements 4 days after a large intravenous dose of cocaine. These movements were transitory and they normalized a week after admission. We believe this to be the first video case of acute chorea secondary to cocaine—a phenomenon popularly known as “crack dancing. ” Cocaine abuse is associated with a wide range of movement disorders, including dystonia and exacerbation of Tourette's syndrome, multifocal tics, opsoclonus‐myoclonus, choreiform movements, and stereotyped behavior known as “punding.” Transient choreiform movements with a typical duration of 2 to 6 days are recognized by cocaine abusers themselves as crack dancing, but are infrequently reported. We present a video report of a patient with cocaine dependency and choreiform movements that normalized within a week of admission. © 2007 Movement Disorder Society