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Updated: Nov 3, 2025

Paradigms for Pharmacological Characterization of C. elegans Synaptic Transmission Mutants
Published on: August 18, 2008
Zonisamide-responsive myoclonus in SEMA6B-associated progressive myoclonic epilepsy
Rebecca Herzog1,2, Yorck Hellenbroich3, Norbert Brüggemann2,4,5
1Institute of Systems Motor Science, University Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany.
Abstract:
We present a female patient in her early twenties with global development delay, progressive ataxia, epilepsy, and myoclonus caused by a stop mutation in the SEMA6B gene. Truncating DNA variants located in the last exon of SEMA6B have recently been identified as a cause of autosomal dominant progressive myoclonus epilepsy. In many cases, myoclonus in the context of progressive myoclonic epilepsy is refractory to medical treatment. In the present case, treatment with zonisamide caused clinical improvement, particularly of positive and negative truncal myoclonus, considerably improving patient's gait and thus mobility.
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