Several pathogenetic mechanisms for<unk>  have been offered, but none have been proven. History of either rheumatic fever or<unk>  is suspected: the suggestion is that estrogens and progesterone may sensitize dopamine receptors (presumably at a striatal level) and induce<unk>  in individuals who are vulnerable to this complication by virtue of preexisting pathology in the basal ganglia. The relation to rheumatic fever was strengthened by many studies that showed that women with normal pregnancies before rheumatic fever developed<unk>  in subsequent pregnancies. At least 35% of patients have a definite history of acute rheumatic fever and Sydenham<unk> ; 4% of those with<unk>  had acute rheumatic fever. It has been suggested that use of oral contraceptives is an infrequent cause of<unk> . A patient developed this<unk>  with no definite evidence of previous Sydenham's<unk>  or recent streptococcal infections, but had anti-basal ganglia antibodies, suggesting immunological basis for the pathophysiology of this<unk> .
Chorea gravidarum
Encephalitis lethargica
Hydrops fetalis
Tetanus
Epidemic dropsy
Status dystonicus
Prurigo gestationis
Asclepiades of Bithynia