Endocrine, nutritional, and metabolic diseases (E00-E90).
- Diabetes mellitus
- Hypocalcemia (calcium deficiency)
- Hypokalemia (potassium deficiency)
- Hypomagnesemia (magnesium deficiency)
- Hyponatremia (sodium deficiency)
Cardiovascular system (I00-I99)
- Circulatory disorders affecting arteries or veins.
Musculoskeletal system and connective tissue (M00-M99).
- Cervical spine syndrome (synonym: cervical syndrome) – unpleasant pain and sometimes dysfunction in the neck and neck area.
- Orthopedic diseases with nerve irritation.
Psyche – nervous system (F00-F99; G00-G99)
- Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) – progressive, irreversible degeneration of the motor nervous system; in this case, fasciculations as a symptom of the demise of α-motoneurons (fasciculations of the muscles and defibrillation in the tongue).
- Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease – disease of the central nervous system leading to progressive (progressive) dementia.
- Encephalitis (inflammation of the brain)
- Myasthenia gravis – rare disorder of neuromuscular transmission of stimuli, which manifests itself in severe load-dependent muscle weakness and rapid onset of fatigability; fasciculations are expressed here in the cholinergic crisis.
- Neuropathy (collective term for many diseases of the peripheral nervous system), new onset: e.g., fasciculations in association with statin-induced neuropathy
- Polyneuropathy, unspecified – generic term for diseases of the peripheral nervous system associated with chronic disorders of peripheral nerves or parts of nerves.
- Post-polio syndrome – muscle weakness or atypical muscle fatigue in damaged muscles; onset no earlier than 15 years after paralytic poliomyelitis (polio).
- Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) – muscle atrophy caused by progressive loss of motor neurons in the anterior horn of the spinal cord; usually results in thoracic scoliosisNote: In childhood, fasciculations are less common than in adults with anterior horn disease
Pregnancy, childbirth, and puerperium (O00-O99).
- Pregnancy
Symptoms and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings not elsewhere classified (R00-R99)
- Benign fasciculation-cramp syndrome (BFCS) – frequent muscle spasms and fasciculations that usually intensify after physical exertion and occur primarily at night; diagnosis of exclusion, i.e., diagnosis may be made only after all other causes of muscle spasms and fasciculations have first been excluded
Injuries, poisonings, and certain other sequelae of external causes (S00-T98).
- Cervical spine and neck trauma – including the appearance of root irritation symptoms, i.e., radicular pain, paresthesias in the corresponding dermatome, and possibly fasciculations in the characteristic muscle area; leading findings are the distribution of motor disturbances, reflex increases, autonomic and sensory disturbances
Medication
- Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors (donezepil, galantamine, rivastigmine).
- Cholinesterase inhibitors (cholinesterase inhibitors).
- Benzodiazepine withdrawal
- Beta-sympathomimetics (e.g., salbutamol, terbutaline)
- Lithium (lithium intoxication)
- Statins (lipid-lowering drugs) → fasciculations associated with statin-induced neuropathy.
- See also “Tremor due to medications” and “Muscle spasms and convulsions/differential diagnoses/medications.”
Further
- Behavioral causes
- Caffeine consumption
