title: Myoclonus and the electroencephalogram, a review.
abstract: Myoclonus is a phenomenon which cuts through a considerable number of neurological conditions. It occurs in a variety of epileptic conditions (Primary generalized epilepsy, hypsarrhythmia, Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, also known as "petit mal variant"), in inborn errors of metabolism (Tay-Sachs disease, forms of ceroid lipofuscinosis), in neurobiochemically still poorly understood forms of degenerative processes such as Essential hereditary myoclonus epilepsy (Lafora-Unverricht-Lundborg), in benign heredo-degenerative disorders (Hartung's syndrome), in CNS infections (SSPE, Jakob-Creutzfeldt disease), in metabolic encephalopathies (renal failure, hypoglycemia), in CNS poisoning, in acute cerebral anoxia and in post-anoxic states. The EEG plays a crucial role in the differential diagnosis of these conditions by the demonstration of a) presence or absence of typical inter-ictal abnormalities, and b) various correlates of the myoclonic ictal event.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D007562:Creutzfeldt-Jakob Syndrome / Q000503:physiopathology; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004569:Electroencephalography; D004831:Epilepsies, Myoclonic / Q000235:genetics / Q000503:physiopathology; D004832:Epilepsy, Absence / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007003:Hypoglycemia / Q000503:physiopathology; D000860:Hypoxia / Q000503:physiopathology; D002534:Hypoxia, Brain / Q000503:physiopathology; D007223:Infant; D007674:Kidney Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009207:Myoclonus / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011041:Poisoning / Q000503:physiopathology; D012640:Seizures / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D013036:Spasms, Infantile / Q000503:physiopathology; D013344:Subacute Sclerosing Panencephalitis / Q000503:physiopathology; D013661:Tay-Sachs Disease / Q000503:physiopathology