Nonketotic Hyperglycemia Presenting as Monoballism.

BACKGROUND: Monoballismus is rarely seen clinically, but when observed, it is usually a manifestation of an acute cerebrovascular accident (CVA). We report a case of monoballismus observed in a patient without evidence of a CVA.

CASE REPORT: We observed a case of monoballismus in a 60-year-old diabetic patient who had not had a stroke. The movement disorder resolved with improvement of the patient's hyperglycemia. Nonketotic hyperglycemia is an uncommon cause of ballismus. WHY SHOULD AN EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN BE AWARE OF THIS?: Emergency physicians should include the movement disorder of ballismus among the potential clues that a patient may be suffering an acute CVA. However, noncerebrovascular causes of ballismus exist. The movements manifest by a patient with ballismus should also lead the physician to consider the possibility not only of a CVA, but also neuroleptic malignant and serotonin syndromes.