Study of Involuntary Limb Movements as a Presenting Feature in Nonketotic Hyperglycemia

Background Hyperglycaemia can rarely manifest as hemichorea/hemiballismus, which subsides with adequate control of blood sugar. Our study accounted for patients with abnormal, involuntary limb movements with high blood sugar, excluding other conditions leading to or mimicking such a clinical appearance. It is very important to identify such patients as chorea secondary to an underlying etiology like hyperglycemia, which can be cured. Material & methods This study was done in IMS & SUM Hospital for a duration of one year, from March 2019 to February 2020, with a total of 11 cases with abnormal limb movements with a blood sugar of 250 mg% and above. Results In this study, 36.36%( n=4) of patients were female, and 63.63% (n=7) were males. The mean age of the patients at presentation was 66.5 years. Eighteen point one percent (18.1%; n=2) of the patients showed hemiballismus, 36.3% (n=4) showed hemichorea, 18.1% (n=2) showed hemiathetosis, 9.1% (n=1) showed myoclonus, and 18.1% (n=2) showed hemiballismus with hemichorea. The mean duration to correct hyperglycemia was found to be 34 hours and the mean duration to correct abnormal limb movements was 90.54 hours. Eighty-one point eight percent (81.8%; n=9) of patients showed basal ganglia changes on brain imaging.