1. A type of chorea characterized by a continuous sequence of sudden, violent, rapid, jerky movements that appear synchronized but are involuntary.

Chorea consists of jerky spasmodic movements of the limbs, trunk, and facial muscles, common to various diseases of the central nervous system.

2. A progressively fatal spasmodic disorder, possibly of malarial origin, occurring chiefly in Italy.

It is a severe form of Sydenham's chorea, in which the spasms are rapid and of a specially rapid, jerky character.

Sydenham's chorea is a neurological disease of children and pregnant women, sometimes following rheumatic fever, in which those affected experience involuntary jerking movements of the body and it is also defined as an acute neurologic disorder that emerges several months following a streptococcal ("strep") infection.

It is named after Thomas Sydenham (1624-1689), English physician.