Somatosensory Evoked Potentials In Patients With Juvenile Myoclonic Epilepsy

Abstract

While a small number of studies dealing with somatosensory evoked potential (SEP) have demonstrated hyperexcitability in the primary somatosensory cortex of juve-nile myoclonic epilepsy (JME) patients, the underlying mechanisms have yet to be illuminated. Determination of higher cortical SEP responses in some JME patients and recordings of very high amplitude responses, called -giant SEP,- in a specific subgroup may indicate a clinical and possibly genetic heterogeneity within JME patients. In the present review, the findings of previous studies concerned with SEP in JME patients are summarized, and their importance regarding JME etiopathogenesis and related clinical findings is discussed.