Nature and Science of Sleep (Dec 2021)

Electroclinical Features of Sleep-Related Head Jerk

  • Hu G,
  • Yuan N,
  • Pan Y,
  • Wang B,
  • Wang X,
  • Wang Z,
  • Chen Z,
  • Liu Y

Journal volume & issue
Vol. Volume 13
pp. 2113 – 2123

Abstract

Read online

Gengyao Hu,1,2,* Na Yuan,1,* Yuanhang Pan,1,* Bi Wang,1 Xiaoli Wang,1 Zezhi Wang,1 Ze Chen,1 Yonghong Liu1 1Department of Neurology, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University (Air Force Medical University), Xi’an, 710032, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Neurology, Xi’an People’s Hospital (Xi’an Fourth Hospital), Xi’an, 710061, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Yonghong LiuDepartment of Neurology, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University (Air Force Medical University), Xi’an, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +86 13991236602Email [email protected] Objectives: To evaluate clinical and electrophysiological features of sleep-related head jerk (SRHJ) and electromyographic activity of superficial neck muscles during head jerk.Methods: Totally, 850 cases with video-polysomnography recording were collected, among which 50 presented with SRHJ. In these 50 patients, 15 underwent electromyography (EMG) check on bilateral sternocleidomastoid (SCM) and trapezius muscles as well as chin, while 35 had only chin EMG check. Further, the sensitivity and specificity of the both EMGs were calculated and compared.Results: Six among the 50 SRHJ patients had a primary complaint of involuntary head jerks associated with impaired sleep. Approximately 76.1% of head jerks occurred during REM sleep with the median head jerk index of 5.9/h, 64.5% of which were associated with electroencephalogram arousals and 66.4% with body movements. One patient showed SRHJ predominantly in NREM sleep but also in wakefulness. Surface EMG of SCM/trapezius muscles showed a sensitivity of 92% and a specificity of 97.8%, whereas chin EMG had a sensitivity of 14.5% and a specificity of 98.8%.Conclusion: SRHJ was associated with electroencephalogram arousals and might interfere with sleep. Surface EMG of SCM/trapezius muscles exhibited a good accuracy in the revelation of SRHJ.Keywords: sleep-related head jerk, neck myoclonus, movement disorder, video-polysomnography, electromyography

Keywords