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Axial myoclonus in paraproteinemic polyneuropathy
Author(s) -
Vetrugno Roberto,
Liguori Rocco,
D'Alessandro Roberto,
D'Angelo Roberto,
Alessandria Maria,
Montagna Pasquale
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
muscle and nerve
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.025
H-Index - 145
eISSN - 1097-4598
pISSN - 0148-639X
DOI - 10.1002/mus.21095
Subject(s) - polyneuropathy , myoclonus , medicine , anatomy , neuroscience , pathology , psychology , anesthesia
We describe a patient with a paraproteinemic anti–myelin‐associated glycoprotein (anti‐MAG) antibody polyneuropathy and concomitant axial myoclonic jerks. Neurophysiological investigation revealed that axial jerks were asymmetrical and exaggerated by lying in bed. They disappeared during mental arousal and sleep. Analysis of axial myoclonus showed that the first activated muscle was the left rectus abdominis with subsequent rostral and caudal propagation of a propriospinal type. Plasmapheresis substantially reduced the frequency and intensity of axial myoclonic jerks. In our patient, propriospinal myoclonus was associated with anti‐MAG polyneuropathy, but the causal relationship remains unclear. Muscle Nerve 38: 1330–1335, 2008