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Paroxysmal movement disorders or paroxysmal dyskinesias refer to abnormal, sudden, involuntary contraction of a group of skeletal muscles which recur episodically. These paroxysms can be challenging to differentiate from epileptic seizures, particularly from focal motor epileptic seizures.
Animals affected by movement disorders are often normal between episodes. The absence of other clinical signs during the episodes, including autonomic signs, changes in consciousness and electroencephalographic abnormalities, have been suggested to support the diagnosis of paroxysmal movement disorders
The signalment and age at onset of the paroxysmal event can assist in establishing the nature of these events. Certain movement disorders are breed-specific, generally occur in young dogs and their phenotype may be well characterised.
The associated genetic defect (e.g., deletion in the gene BCAN) has been identified only in Cavalier King Charles spaniels with paroxysmal exercise-induced dyskinesia (also known as episodic falling) Genetic investigations in other breeds are ongoing.
Generalised epileptic seizures typically occur at rest or during sleep, last less than 5 min and are usually followed by abnormal clinical manifestations (post-ictal signs) including disorientation, restlessness, pacing, lethargy, deep sleep, hunger, thirst, ataxia, proprioceptive deficits, and less commonly, aggressive behaviour and blindness.
The presence of impaired consciousness (e.g., altered awareness and responsiveness to the environment and stimuli), oro-facial muscle involvement, autonomic signs and convulsions during the ictus all support the classification of the episodes as epileptic seizure.
