[Post-anoxic hemi-myoclonic encephalopathy: report of a case]

A case of a young man with myoclonus in his right side after cerebral hypoxia is reported. This patient had cerebral hypoxia caused by injury in his left common carotid artery. After a few hours he had generalized convulsive seizures of tonic-clonic type and also a septic shock. As consciousness was regained, he developed action and intention myoclonus in his right-side. The EEG showed diffuse typical myoclonus potentials. Clonazepan 8 mg daily was used with good results. This is the first reference in the medical literature of the unilateral localization in the Lance-Adams syndrome. The authors think that in this case two abnormalities contributed to the cerebral anoxia: the common carotid artery injury and the septic shock.