EEG Patterns Orienting to Lafora Disease Diagnosis-A Case Report in Two Beagles

Helga Demeny; Bogdan Florea; Flaviu Tabaran; Cecilia Gabriella Danciu; Laurent Ognean

doi:10.3389/fvets.2020.589430

EEG Patterns Orienting to Lafora Disease Diagnosis-A Case Report in Two Beagles

Front Vet Sci. 2020 Nov 5:7:589430. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2020.589430. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Helga Demeny¹, Bogdan Florea², Flaviu Tabaran¹, Cecilia Gabriella Danciu¹, Laurent Ognean¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Preclinical and Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
² Epilepsy and EEG Monitoring Center, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.

Abstract

Lafora Disease (LD) is a rare, fatal, late-onset, progressive form of myoclonic epilepsy, occurring in humans and dogs. Clinical manifestations of LD usually include seizures, spontaneous and reflex myoclonus with contractions of the neck and limb muscles. We studied the electroencephalogram (EEG) patterns of two beagles in whom LD was subsequently confirmed by genetic testing. In both cases, the EEG recordings, accompanied by electromyography (EMG), have shown similar uncommon patterns. The hypovoltaged background rhythm was interrupted by waxing "crescendo" polyspikes-slow wave complexes appearing 80-250 ms after the start of intermittent photic stimulation, followed by myoclonic jerks after 80-150 ms. This study highlights the value of EEG in establishing a presumptive diagnosis of LD in dogs.

Keywords: Beagle; EEG; Lafora disease; progressive myoclonic epilepsy; surface EMG.

Publication types

Case Reports