title: A 15-day-old male infant presenting with jerking movements of the limbs.
abstract: This 15-day-old Caucasian male infant presented to the clinic with his mother for a well-child visit. During the visit, the mother mentioned that she had observed jerking movements of the limbs, arms more than legs. Various tests were performed and observation in the ward helped determine the characteristics of the seizure-like movements. The infant was born by vaginal delivery with vacuum extraction with a history of possible perinatal asphyxia. After seizures were observed in the ward, the patient was referred to neurology where an EEG was performed. It was normal, excluding epilepsy states. A normal newborn screen excluded most metabolic disorders. After history and examination, investigations and observation, benign sleep myoclonus was diagnosed. Benign sleep myoclonus is a benign disorder that consists of jerking movements of the limbs, usually involving the upper limbs more than the lower limbs and usually occurring during sleep. The seizures spontaneously stopped when the infant was approximately 1.5 months old. This was consistent with the final diagnosis of neonatal sleep myoclonus.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Avera St Luke's Hospital, Aberdeen, South Dakota, USA. ayesha1351@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Ayesha
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Younas
authors.forename: Suleman
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Younas
mesh_terms: D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004569:Electroencephalography; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D009207:Myoclonus / Q000175:diagnosis*; D010507:Periodicity; D012640:Seizures / Q000209:etiology*; D016896:Treatment Outcome