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Substantiating the Short Burst Duration in Cortical Myoclonus
Sterre van der Veen1,2, Amber Maliepaard1,2, Madelein van der Stouwe1,2
1Department of Neurology, University of Groningen, University Medical Centre Groningen (UMCG), Groningen, The Netherlands.
Background:
Myoclonus is characterized by involuntary, shock-like movements, of which cortical (CM) and non-cortical myoclonus (NCM) are most common. Electrophysiology can help differentiate between these subtypes; however, the diagnostic value of several features is largely unknown.
Objective:
This study aims to determine the diagnostic value of the burst duration in distinguishing CM and NCM.
Methods:
We manually identified the burst duration of 8 patients with CM, confirmed by electromyography-electroencephalography registration or somatosensory-evoked potentials, and 19 patients with NCM, suspected due to a myoclonus-dystonia phenotype (MYC/DYT-SGCE positive and negative).
Results:
The sensitivity and specificity were calculated to assess the diagnostic value. The burst duration of CM (31.1 ms) was significantly shorter than that of NCM (56.7 ms), with a sensitivity of 100% and a specificity of 89.5% at a threshold of 45.0 ms. A minimum of 10 randomly selected bursts were sufficient for reliable diagnostic accuracy.
Conclusion:
The burst duration seems a valuable supportive diagnostic criterion for distinguishing CM and NCM.
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