Eyelid myoclonia with absences occurring during the clinical course of cryptogenic myoclonic epilepsy of early childhood

We describe a 15-year-old boy with learning difficulties and eyelid myoclonia with absences (EMA). Myoclonic jerks of the extremities and trunk occurred 9 years before the onset of EMA, when the patient was 6. At that time, we diagnosed him with cryptogenic myoclonic epilepsy of early childhood, because he manifested mainly myoclonic jerks with generalized 3- to 6-Hz spike/polyspike-and-slow-wave complexes on EEG, normal neurological examination, good response to antiepileptic drugs, and no evidence of previous brain damage. This is an unusual case showing that myoclonic epilepsy of early childhood can evolve to EMA. Although the question of whether EMA is a seizure type or an epilepsy syndrome remains controversial, our case suggests that EMA is a seizure type during the clinical course of a particular kind of myoclonic epilepsy.