Tongue Biting Event in Patients with Sleep-Related Facial Mandibular Myoclonus: A Case Series Study.

Background: Sleep-related facial mandibular myoclonus (SRFMM) remains rare in clinical practice. The aim of this study was to provide a comprehensive understanding of the electroclinical manner, therapeutic regimen, and prognosis of SRFMM. Methods: Twenty-three patients who were diagnosed with SRFMM by clinical manifestation, video-electroencephalography (EEG) and electromyography over bilateral masseter and temporalis muscles were enrolled. Clinical and electrophysiological evaluation as well as follow-up information were recorded and analyzed. Results: The cohort involved 4 infants and 19 adults with a mean onset age of 43.5 years for SRFMM, among whom 19 were male. Twenty-one patients complained of tongue injuries and disturbed night-time sleep. SRFMM in 4 patients were ascribed to oral aripiprazole, brainstem ischemia and brain trauma. In 62 SRFMM episodes, 93.5% occurred in NREM sleep and 6.5% in REM sleep, and all events were associated with EEG arousals. In 13 patients with or without clonazepam, the motor events gradually disappeared, and the rest turned to be sporadic. Conclusion: SRFMM is a characteristic parasomnia manifested by tongue biting and accompanying facial mandibular myoclonus, leading to disrupted sleep. Besides adults, infants can also experience SRFMM with spontaneous remission. Most patients respond well to clonazepam, eventually with favorable prognosis.

De Novo Variants in the DYNC1H1 Gene Associated With Infantile Spasms.

Objective: The DYNC1H1 gene is related to a variety of diseases, including spinal muscular atrophy with lower extremity-predominant 1, Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 2O, and mental retardation, autosomal dominant13 (MRD13). Some patients with DYNC1H1 variant also had epilepsy. This study aimed to detect DYNC1H1 variants in Chinese patients with infantile spasms (ISs). Methods: We reviewed clinical information, video electroencephalogram (V-EEG), and neuroimaging of a newly identified cohort of five patients with de novo DYNC1H1gene variants. Results: Five patients with four DYNC1H1variants from four families were included. All patients had epileptic spasms (ESs), the median age at seizure onset was 7.5 months (range from 5 months to 2 years 7 months), and the interictal V-EEG results were hypsarrhythmia. Four of five patients had brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) abnormalities. Four de novo DYNC1H1 variants were identified, including two novel variants (p.N1117K, p.M3405L) and two reported variants (p.R1962C, p.F1093S). As for the variant site, two variants are located in the tail domain, one variant is located in the motor domain, and one variant is located in the stalk domain. All patients had tried more than five kinds of antiepileptic drugs. One patient has been controlled well by vigabatrin (VGB) for 4 years, and another patient by VGB and steroids for 1.5 years. The other three patients still had frequent ESs. All patients had severe intellectual disability and development delays. Significance: IS was one of the phenotypes of DYNC1H1 variants. Most patients had non-specific brain MRI abnormality. Two of four DYNC1H1 variants were novel, expanding the variant spectrum. The IS phenotype was related to the variant's domains of DYNC1H1 variant sites. All patients were drug-refractory and showed development delays.