Palatal myoclonus

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Palatal myoclonus
Palatal myoclonus

Palatal myoclonus is a rare condition in which there are rhythmic jerky movements or a rapid spasm of the palatal (roof of the mouth) muscles. Chronic clonus is often due to lesions of the central tegmental tract (which connects the red nucleus to the ipsilateral inferior olivary nucleus).[ citation needed ]

Contents

When associated with eye movements, it is known as oculopalatal myoclonus.

Signs and symptoms

Signs and symptoms of Palatal Myoclonus include:

- A rhythmic clicking sound in the ear due to the opening and closing of the Eustachian tube. [1]

- Rhythmic, jerky movements in the face, eyeballs, tongue, jaw, vocal cord or extremities (mostly hands). [2]

Diagnosis

Classifications

physiologic, essential, epileptic, and symptomatic

Treatment

Drugs

Drugs used to treat palatal myoclonus include clonazepam, carbamazepine, baclofen, anticholinergics, tetrabenazine, valproic acid, phenytoin, lamotrigine, sumatriptan, and PIR. A rare case of palatal myoclonus that associated with orofacial buccal dystonia has been treated with Botulinum toxin A (Dysport) injection and counseling. [1]

Notes

Related Research Articles

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Essential tremor (ET), also called benign tremor, familial tremor, and idiopathic tremor, is a medical condition characterized by involuntary rhythmic contractions and relaxations of certain muscle groups in one or more body parts of unknown cause. It is typically symmetrical, and affects the arms, hands, or fingers; but sometimes involves the head, vocal cords, or other body parts. Essential tremor is either an action (intention) tremor—it intensifies when one tries to use the affected muscles during voluntary movements such as eating and writing—or it is a postural tremor, present with sustained muscle tone. This means that it is distinct from a resting tremor, such as that caused by Parkinson's disease, which is not correlated with movement.

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References

  1. 1 2 Park, S. N.; Park, K. H.; Kim, D. H.; Yeo, S. W. (Feb 7, 2011). "Palatal Myoclonus Associated with Orofacial Buccal Dystonia". Clinical and Experimental Otorhinolaryngology. 5 (1): 44–48. doi:10.3342/ceo.2012.5.1.44. PMC   3314805 . PMID   22468202. Orofacial buccal dystonia is a focal dystonia with sustained spasms of the masticatory, facial or lingual muscles. The frequent symptoms of this disease have mainly been reported to be involuntary and possibly painful jaw opening, closing, deflecting and retruding, or a combination of the above. However, the subtle and unnoticeable involuntary movement of multiple facial muscles, which might be an infrequent symptom of orofacial buccal dystonia, makes this disease hard to diagnose.
  2. Kim, Jong S.; Caplan, Louis R. (2016). "26 Vertebrobasilar Disease". Stroke (Sixth ed.). Elsevier. pp. 413–448.e7. doi:10.1016/B978-0-323-29544-4.00026-8. ISBN   9780323295444. Occasionally, rhythmic, jerky movements are also observed in the face, eyeballs, tongue, jaw, vocal cord or extremities (mostly hands); they may not be synchronous with palatal movements. The movements of the palate vary in rate between 40 and 200 beats per minute. The movements may involve the Eustachian tube and make a click that the patient can hear.
  3. Zadikoff C, Lang AE, Klein C. (29 November 2005). "The 'essentials' of essential palatal tremor: a reappraisal of the nosology". Brain. 129 (4): 832–840. doi: 10.1093/brain/awh684 . PMID   16317025.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. Saeed SR1, Brookes GB. (1993). "The use of clostridium botulinum toxin in palatal myclonus. A preliminary report". Journal of Laryngology & Otology. 107 (3): 208–210. doi:10.1017/S0022215100122650. PMID   8509697. S2CID   19052329.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)