Treatment of chorea minor, with a special view to employment of large doses of luminal

Summary. 41 children, 6—14 years old (13 boys and 28 girls), are treated with luminal. As a normal method, large initial doses, (up to 30 eg daily) are given for 14 days or till the eruption of an exanthema (about 9 days), whereafter luminal is given in smaller doses (15—10 eg daily) for a shorter or longer period. In more than half of the children treated in this way clinical recovery was obtained within 2 weeks in more than three fourths of the children it was obtained within 3 weeks. Apart from 2 cases, in one of which there was a brief spell of hæmaturia in connection with the exanthema, while the other patient had an attack of febrile angina in connection with the exanthema, no serious complications were observed, especially not involving the respiratory passages. Luminal therapy with large initial doses has thus proved to be a very effective and safe treatment in all cases of chorea, but it is suitable only for hospitals or clinics. An attempt is made to account for the pathogenesis of the choreic movements; and a hypothetical explanation is given of the reason for the antichoreatic effect of luminal.