[Benign myoclonus of early childhood].

In 1976/77 we presented a group of small infants starting between four and nine months of age with repeated jerks of head and arms. They showed no neurological abnormalities and several EEGs in each case were normal. The term "benign myoclonus of early infancy" was proposed. Differential diagnosis are discussed in this paper, as a larger personal series of 18 children with a follow-up during four to sixteen years is analyzed. Special emphasis is given to good prognosis of "benign myoclonus of early infancy" and the differences with cryptogenetic cases of West syndrome.