Obsessive-compulsive disorder and rheumatic chorea: is there a connection?

There is increasing evidence to suggest basal ganglion involvement in the aetiopathogenesis of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Twenty subjects with rheumatic chorea were assessed for presence of OCD and evaluated on Leyton's Obsessional Inventory. Four subjects had OCD. The study group had markedly higher scores on all the scales of Leyton's Obsessional Inventory. The findings implicate that caudate dysfunction is not sufficient on its own to explain the presence of obsessive-compulsive behaviour and that additional basal ganglion regions/rostral connections also have to be involved to produce co-morbidity.