[Hemiballismus and metastasis to the Luys' body. An anatomo-clinical case]

A 55 year-old man complained of headaches, dizziness and vomiting. Neurological examination only showed a cerebellar syndrome. CT scan revealed two hyperdense round areas in the right frontal lobe and cerebellar vermis consistent with metastases and a lung carcinoma was diagnosed. Two months later he presented with typical right hemichorea. A second CT scan showed another hypodense lesion with slight contrast enhancement in the left subthalamic region. He died 6 months after clinical onset. Post mortem examination showed an adenocarcinoma of the right lung with liver metastases. Neuropathological examination revealed four intraparenchymatous metastases one of which involved the left subthalamic nucleus. Hemichorea secondary to metastatic neoplasm of the corpus Luysii is uncommon; only 6 cases have been reported previously; five of them had a post mortem examination of the brain. In three cases a CT scan was available and had demonstrated the site and nature of the lesion.