臨床神経学

Case Report

A case of post-anoxic reticular reflex myoclonus

Manabu Inoue, M.D., Ph.D.1)*, Yasuhiro Kojima, M.D.1), Masato Kinboshi, M.D.1), Masutaro Kanda, M.D.1) and Hiroshi Shibasaki, M.D.2)

Corresponding author: Department of Neurology, Takeda General Hospital〔28―1 Ishidamoriminami-machi, Fushimi-ku, Kyoto, 601―1495 Japan〕
1)Department of Neurology, Ijinkai Takeda General Hospital
2)Emeritus Professor, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine

Background: Reticular reflex myoclonus is a rare condition with only a few cases clearly documented on video. The purpose of this paper is to report a patient manifesting typical clinical picture documented on video and characteristic electrophysiological features of reticular reflex myoclonus. Case: A 60-year-old woman presented with spontaneous and stimulus-sensitive myoclonic jerks involving the face, neck and upper extremities following anoxic episode. The patient was investigated electrophysiologically. Surface electromyogram showed brief myoclonic activity starting from the sternocleidomastoid and spreading up to the orbicularis oculi as well as down to the upper limb muscles. Cortical somatosensory evoked potentials and long-latency reflex were not enhanced. Conclusion: Clinical features and electrophysiological findings of this case are consistent with those of reticular reflex myoclonus originally reported by Hallett et al. in 1977.
Reticular reflex myoclonus.:The video shows spontaneous and stimulus-induced clusters of repetitive twitching movements in the face, neck, and upper limbs. The movements were particularly sensitive to tapping of the peri-oral skin.
Reticular reflex myoclonus.(Members Only)
Full Text of this Article in Japanese PDF (153K) 会員限定

(臨床神経, 52:557−560, 2012)
key words:post-anoxic myoclonus, brain stem myoclonus, reticular reflex myoclonus

(受付日:2011年12月3日)