Chronodependency and provocative factors in juvenile myoclonic epilepsy

In juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME), occurrence of seizures and epileptiform EEG discharges is influenced by internal and external factors. The most important internal factor is the chronodependency: the occurrence of myoclonic jerks in the early morning is one of the hallmarks of JME. Approximately two-thirds of the patients with JME report that seizures are provoked by a variety of general factors like stress, fatigue, fever, and sleep and more specific precipitants like flashing sunlight, music, reading, thinking, and excess alcohol. The prevalence rate of photosensitivity (photoparoxysmal EEG response) in patients with JME ranges from 8 to 90%; it is seen more often in females and adolescents and depends on drug use. Since both JME and photosensitivity are connected with generalized types of epilepsy and myoclonus, the two traits are comorbid for that reason. Epileptiform EEG discharges can be provoked by other activation methods: sleep, hyperventilation, and specific cognitive tasks. Attention seems to have a non-specific, inhibitory effect of the epileptiform discharges. Hyperventilation can induce absence seizures in patients with JME, while cognitive tasks are efficient in precipitating myoclonic seizures.This article is part of a supplemental special issue entitled Juvenile Myoclonic Epilepsy: What is it Really?

► Chronodependency: the occurrence of myoclonic jerks in the early morning.
► 60% report provocation by general and specific, physiol. and psychol. factors.
► Photosensitivity occurs more often in females and adolescents.
► Myoclonus and photosensitivity are co-morbid in JME.