[Clinical electroencephalographic diagnosis of myoclonus in various types of epilepsy].

Twenty-six epileptics, 16 males and 10 females, with various types of myoclonia were studied. In all patients routine EEG, 24-hour EEG and/or Video-EEG, also with EMG recording were done. Combined detailed clinical-electrophysiological analysis was possible owing to the modern methods of diagnostic examinations and it enabled five epileptic syndromes to be isolated in this group, that is: childhood epilepsy with absence attacks (CAE), juvenile absence epilepsy (JAE), juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME), progressive myoclonic epilepsy (PME) and photogenic epilepsy. Clinical features of four types of myoclonia occurring in these cases are described in detail since they make possible differential diagnosis of epilepsy syndromes. This is important since the diagnostic and therapeutic methods differ in these cases, and similarly the prognosis varies in these epilepsy types. Stress is laid on juvenile myoclonic epilepsy which is as yet too rarely or erroneously diagnosed.