Computerized tomography in hereditary nonprogressive chorea.

A 56-year-old woman had a 50-year history of childhood-onset chorea without progressive neurologic deficit. The patient's father had a lifelong extrapyramidal disorder characterized by a head-nodding tremor and involuntary movements especially evident with anxiety. The computerized tomographic scan was normal, without evidence of cortical or caudate atrophy. The computerized tomographic scan supports the notion of a functional rather than a structural lesion, and may aid in the discrimination of hereditary nonprogressive chorea from more devastating forms of hereditary chorea.