Benign neonatal sleep myoclonus: clinical features and video-polygraphic recordings.
Benign neonatal sleep myoclonus is a syndrome characterized by the occurrence of repetitive myoclonic jerks of the extremities exclusively during non-rapid eye movement sleep in the early life of healthy newborns. No etiological factors are present. The onset is within the first 15 days of life with spontaneous disappearance within 3-4 months. These myoclonic events are commonly diagnosed as epileptic seizures. We observed 12 newborns with this clinical pattern; the follow-up ranges from 12 to 60 months. Long-term videopolygraphic electroencephalographic (EEG) monitoring demonstrated normal EEG activity, thus confirming that these unusual events were nonepileptic.
Di Capua
M
M
Section of Neurophysiology, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, National Medical Research Institute, Rome, Italy.
Fusco
L
L
Ricci
S
S
Vigevano
F
F
D001925:Brain Damage, Chronic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000503:physiopathology; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004831:Epilepsies, Myoclonic / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D017286:Polysomnography; D012016:Reference Values; D012894:Sleep Stages / Q000502:physiology; D012893:Sleep Wake Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D014741:Video Recording; D014851:Wakefulness / Q000502:physiology