- Sydenham's chorea
- Syd·en·ham's chorea 'sid-ən-əmz- n chorea following infection (as rheumatic fever) and occurring usu. in children and adolescents called also Saint Vitus' danceSydenham Thomas (1624-1689)British physician. Sydenham has been called the founder of epidemiology and the English Hippocrates for his reliance on close personal observation of patients and clinical experience to treat disease. He introduced the use of opium into medical practice and helped to popularize the use of quinine for the treatment of malaria. He is also known for his classic descriptions of arthritis due to gout (1683) and Sydenham's chorea (1686).
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a form of chorea that mainly affects children and adolescents, especially females. It can occur some months after an infection caused by b-haemolytic streptococci (such as rheumatic fever or scarlet fever), causing uncontrolled movements of the muscles of the shoulders, hips, and face (hence the archaic name, St Vitus' dance). Formerly a frightening disease, it is now readily cured by antibiotics.G. Sydenham (1624-89), English physician
Medical dictionary. 2011.