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Causes
By Mayo Clinic staffMyoclonus may be caused by a variety of underlying problems. Doctors often separate the types of myoclonus based on their causes, which helps determine treatment. Types of myoclonus include the following categories.
Physiological myoclonus
This is the type that occurs in normal, healthy people and rarely needs treatment. Examples include:
- Hiccups
- Sleep starts
- Infant muscle twitching during sleep or after a feeding
Essential myoclonus
Essential myoclonus occurs on its own, typically without other symptoms and without being related to any underlying illness. The cause of essential myoclonus is often unexplained (idiopathic) or, in some cases, hereditary.
Epileptic myoclonus
This type of myoclonus occurs as part of an epileptic disorder. Muscle jerks may be the only symptom or one of many.
Symptomatic (secondary) myoclonus
This is a common form of myoclonus. Muscle jerks occur as a result of an underlying medical problem, such as:
- Head or spinal cord injury or infection
- Stroke
- Brain tumor
- Kidney or liver failure
- Chemical or drug poisoning
- Prolonged oxygen deprivation
- Medication reaction
- Huntington's disease
- Alzheimer's disease
- Parkinson's disease
- Metabolic problems
- Caviness JN. Classification and evaluation of myoclonus. http://www.uptodate.com. Accessed April 27, 2010.
- Jankovic J, et al. Movement disorders: Diagnosis and assessment. In: Bradley WG, et al. Neurology in clinical practice. 5th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Butterworth-Heinemann/Elsevier; 2008. http://www.mdconsult.com/book/player/book.do?method=display&type=bookPage&decorator=header&eid=4-u1.0-B978-0-7506-7525-3..50026-1--cesec27&uniq=196879356&isbn=978-0-7506-7525-3&sid=987314823. Accessed April 22, 2010.
- Myoclonus fact sheet. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/myoclonus/detail_myoclonus.htm. Accessed April 19, 2010.
- Caviness JN. Treatment of myoclonus. http://www.uptodate.com. Accessed April 20, 2010.
- Caviness JM. Classification and evaluation of myoclonus. http://www.uptodate.com. Accessed June 23, 2010.
- Neurological diagnostic tests and procedures. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/misc/diagnostic_tests.htm. Accessed April 22, 2010.
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