Article Text
Short report
Carotid brainstem reflex myoclonus after hypoxic brain damage
Abstract
A patient comatose after acute anoxia developed bilaterally synchronous, periodic myoclonic jerks most prominently in the bilateral upper limbs. Although the myoclonus seemed to occur spontaneously, electrophysiological studies showed that the myoclonic jerks correlated in timing and size with arterial pulses, and was suppressed by massage over the carotid sinus. It is proposed that the present myoclonus is a variant of brainstem reflex myoclonus in which arterial pulses served as intrinsic trigger stimuli via the carotid sinus and the medullary reticular formation.
- involuntary movement
- carotid sinus
- medullary reticular formation
- arterial pulse