Affiliations: American University of Beirut Medical Center, Beirut, Lebanon | Department of Neurology, Rafik Hariri University
Hospital, Beirut, Lebanon
Note: [] Correspondence: Dr. Ahmad Beydoun, M.D., Department of
Neurology, American University of Beirut Medical Center, Beirut, Lebanon. Tel.:
+961 3322904; Fax: +961 1370814; E-mail: ab29@aub.edu.lb
Abstract: Early myoclonic encephalopathy (EME) is an epileptic encephalopathy
characterized by highly refractory seizures and an overall bad prognosis. In
this report, we present an infant who developed EME secondary to nonketotic
hyperglycinemia. A vagus nerve stimulator inserted when the infant was 6 months
and 3-weeks-old resulted in mild psychomotor improvement and in a dramatic
reduction in seizure frequency documented by closed-circuit
television-electroencephalography monitoring. This is the youngest infant in
the literature reported so far inserted with a vagus nerve stimulator, and the
results suggest that this treatment modality is safe and can be of benefit in
reducing seizures associated with EME.
Keywords: Vagal nerve stimulation, early myoclonic encephalopathy, nonketotic hyperglycinemia
