Movement disorders and stroke

Stroke may be associated with different types of movement disorders, such as hyperkinetic syndromes (hemichorea-hemiballism, unilateral asterixis, limb-shaking, dystonia, tremor, myoclonus) and hypokinetic syndromes (especially vascular parkinsonism). However, movement disorders are rare and transient in acute stroke and, as a permanent consequence, are more often delayed. While ischemic and hemorrhagic strokes can happen at any level of the frontal-subcortical motor system, they can be explained most of the time by a dysfunction in the basal ganglia motor circuit. However, only brain MRI allows the involved structure(s) to be precisely located, and each syndrome is specific to the type of lesion. Treatment is above all symptomatic. Only limb-shaking syndrome requires urgent surgical treatment because of the low-perfusion hemodynamic state. The functional prognosis depends on the type of movement disorder.