Diabetic hemichorea–hemiballism – Case report of a patient with enduring striatal lesion

Abstract This report describes a case of sudden onset of hyperglycaemic hemichorea–hemiballism as first manifestation of diabetes mellitus in a patient with previous history of Whipple’s surgery. Initial cranial computed tomography scanning and magnetic resonance imaging showed characteristic striatal lesions contralateral to the affected body side. A treatment with insulin led to an improvement of diabetic laboratory parameters but hyperkinesia still persisted and follow-up imaging revealed an enduring lesion in the posterior part of the caudate nucleus head.