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Neurological sign
‘Hand mechanogram’ in epilepsia partialis continua
  1. Philippe A Salles1,2,
  2. Alberto J Espay3,4
  1. 1 Center for Movement Disorders, CETRAM, Santiago, Chile
  2. 2 Department of Neuroscience, Clínica Dávila, Santiago, Chile
  3. 3 Department of Neurology, UC Gardner Neuroscience Institute, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
  4. 4 Department of Neurology, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
  1. Correspondence to Professor Alberto J Espay, Department of Neurology, UC Gardner Neuroscience Institute, Cincinnati, OH 45219, USA; alberto.espay{at}uc.edu

Abstract

Epilepsia partialis continua manifests as low-frequency, rhythmic involuntary movements of a focal body part. We report a young man, HIV-positive and with syphilis, who developed right-hand epilepsia partialis continua associated with a small left-sided cortico-subcortical frontal lesion. A pen and paper test provided ‘mechanographic’ data on frequency, amplitude and rhythmicity of the hand movements, helping distinguish it from other causes of low-frequency repetitive hand movements.

  • tremor
  • epilepsy
  • movement disorders
  • myoclonus

https://doi.org/10.1136/practneurol-2021-003041

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    Footnotes

    • Contributors PAS evaluated the case and drafted the manuscript. AJE reviewed the case and provided critical intellectual content and is the guarantor.

    • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed by Mark Manford, Cambridge, UK.

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    • Editors’ commentary
      Highlights from this issue
      Phil E M Smith Geraint N Fuller
      Practical Neurology 2021; 21 463-463 Published Online First: 18 Nov 2021. doi: 10.1136/practneurol-2021-003276