Surgical Treatment of Propriospinal Myoclonus: A Case Report

Propriospinal myoclonus (PSM) is a rare segmental movement disorder characterized by repetitive irregular myoclonic jerks of the trunk and/or axial limbs at the resting state. It is imperative to make a correct diagnosis as other movement disorders can be mistaken for or mask PSM. Therefore, a battery of neuroimaging and neurophysiological testing must be undertaken. In our case report, we discuss a patient who was diagnosed with PSM concurrently with cervical degenerative stenosis and then had a successful outcome via surgical decompression and arthrodesis of the cervical spine. We documented the patient's postoperative course and achievement of complete remission, sustained at a 41-month follow-up. We then grouped our case together with five other PSM cases in the literature to offer readers a broader context of the role of surgical spinal intervention in ameliorating PSM.