Two Cases of Pelvic Floor Myoclonic Jerk Syndrome

We report two cases of pelvic floor myoclonic jerk syndrome, which are rarely reported and associated with various etiological conditions. These cases are different from previously reported cases in terms of spontaneous improvement, no pain, and causal event. One patient suffered from this symptom after a suspected mild head and back trauma, and the other patient had no suspected etiological event or medical illness.

A Case of Convulsive Seizure Development Induced by Clozapine

The authors described a case of male schizophrenia who developed myoclonic jerk repeatedly and one episode of convulsive seizure during the treatment of clozapine. According to literatures and reported cases, myoclonic jerks induced in a small amount of clozapine may precede and predict the development of a convulsive seizure. Therefore clinicians have to pay attention to the development of a myoclonic jerk during the administration of clozapine. They may decrease the dosage of clozapine step by step at first in the convulsive state, and observe EEG changes of patients frequently.

Effects of Concomitant Treatment with Drugs Affecting Monoaminergic Systems on the Clozapine-induced Myoclonic Jerks in Partially Restrained Rats

This study was performed to investigate the mechanism of the clozapine-induced seizures in partially restrained rats by concomitant treatment with drugs affecting monoaminergic systems. Partially restrained rats treated with acute single doses of 10mg/kg clozapine exhibited myoclonic jerks(MJs). Drugs affecting the monoaminergic systems, including 2mg/kg haloperidol, 5mg/kg propranolol, 2mg/kg ritanserin, 20mg/kg fluoxetine, and 20mg/kg imipramine, were concomitantly treated with clozapine to observe the effects of these drugs on the MJs. The drugs were given intraperitoneally either as acute single doses(haloperidol, propranolol, ritanserin, and fluoxetine) or as chronic doses for 21 days(haloperidol, imipramine, ritanserin, and fluoxetine). The effects of the concomitant treatment of other drugs on the clozapine-induced MJs were evaluated by comparison of the total numbers of the MJs between the clozapine-treated and concomitantly treated groups. The results were as follows. 1) Concomitant treatment with acute single doses of haloperidol, propranolol, and fluoxetine reduced the total numbers of the clozapine-induced MJs, while concomitant treatment with ritanserin did not. 2) Concomitant treatment with chronic doses of imipramine and ritanserin increased the total numbers of the MJs, while concomitant treatment with fluoxetine reduced them. Concomitant chronic treatment with haloperidol did not affect the numbers of the MJs. These results suggest that dopamine and serotonin, not noradrenalin may be involved in the clozapine-induced MJs in partially restrained rats. Future research needs to study the function of each subtype of monoaminergic receptors on the mechanism of the clozapine-induced seizure.