SUBCLINICAL ANTERIOR HORN CELL INVOLVEMENT IN JUVENILE MYOCLONIC EPILEPSY

Although clinical signs of muscle wasting and weakness were not presen t, electromyographic (EMG) evidence of subclinical anterior horn cell involvement of spinal cord was noted in 5 patients with juvenile myocl onic epilepsy (JME). Quantitative interference pattern analysis of EMG recorded from the anterior tibial muscle showed that the ratio (ampli tude:turn/turn:second, A:T/T:S) was significantly increased in 10 pati ents with JME and 12 patients with lower motor neuron disorders (LMND) as compared with those of 22 normal subjects and 15 patients with fre quent generalized tonic-clonic seizures (GTC). Subclinical anterior ho rn cell involvement detected by EMG techniques can be related to a gen etically determined component of JME.