From Morvan's Fibrillary chorea to the “mal des ardents”*

Abstract

The authors present a case of Morvan's fibrillary chorea. We compare this observation with cases in the past such as the "mal des ardents", the plague of Athens, acrodynia and the epidemic of Pont St Esprit which were all characterized clinically by pain, burning sensations, hallucinations and insomnia. Since aetiological aspects remain uncertain, the similarity in clinical observations establishes a close relationship between the "mal des ardents" and the clinical features of our patient.

Morvan's syndrome: Clinical, laboratory, and in vitro electrophysiological studies

“…However, only a few cases of this rare disorder have been reported in the English-language literature. 3,5,9,15,17,19,20,25,31 The etiology of Morvan's syndrome is poorly understood, but it is considered an immune-mediated disease frequently associated with thymomas 15 or other forms of cancer. 19 Acquired neuromyotonia, or Isaacs' syndrome, without CNS manifestations is thought to be an antibody-mediated autoimmune or paraneoplastic disorder based on the response to immunomodulatory treatment 23 and passive transfer studies.…”