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Juvenile Myoclonic Epilepsy (JME)
Overview
- Juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME) begins in adolescence (12 – 18 years old) and, notably, involves myoclonic seizures.
- It is one of the photosensitive epilepsies; seizures can be triggered by flashing or flickering lights.
- In our slide, we show a bed and a sunrise, because the events characteristically cluster upon awakening in the morning.
- We show a bolt of lightning because the jerks are described as “lightning-like”.
Myoclonic seizures
- Myoclonic seizures manifest with symmetric, irregular, shock-like, jerks of the shoulders and arms, most notably, which can cause the person to drop items, but can also affect the legs, which can cause falls.
EEG
- The EEG demonstrates polyspikes, which correlate with the myoclonic jerks, and characteristic disorganized, 4 – 5 Hz polyspike and wave discharges.
- These discharges have a strong photoparoxysmal response, so flashing lights are used during EEG to elicit these discharges.