myoclonus

Term: myoclonus

Literally meaning: “muscle agitation”

Origin: Anc Greek

myo-> μυο-/myo-(=comping form meaning muscle) > μυς/mys/ (=muscle)

> μύω/myo(=enclosed like the muscle inside body or rat in its nest=epimys)

-clonus> κλονώ/clono(=unsettle, shake)

Coined/History

Nikolaus Friedreich (1825-1882) described in 1881 the “paramyoclonus multiplex”  for a sporadic non progressive form of myoclonus and 10 years later Heinrich Unverricht (1853 - 1912) described “the familial myoclonic epilepsy”.

R Guerrini et al, Epilepsy and Movement Disorders, 2002 Cambridge University Press

 

Definition

Myoclonus is a  symptom of heterogeneous group of diseases which is characterized by a brief and sudden involuntary jerking or t twitching of a muscle or group of muscles.