Epilepsy and sleep apnea syndrome
Abstract
We identified seven patients with refractory partial epilepsy and sleep apnea. Treatment of the sleep apnea with nasal continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), protriptyline, trazodone, acetazolamide, or tracheostomy reduced seizure frequency and severity in six patients. Success with CPAP depended largely on compliance. Four of five patients had a clear reduction in seizure frequency with the use of CPAP. Sleep apnea may exacerbate epilepsy by causing sleep disruption and deprivation, hypoxemia, and decreased cerebral blood flow. In epilepsy patients with risk factors (eg, obesity) or markers (eg, habitual snoring, daytime somnolence) for sleep apnea, a careful sleep history should be elicited and a polysomnogram obtained when indicated. Treatment of the sleep disorder can improve seizure control.
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© 1994 by the American Academy of Neurology.
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Published online: November 1, 1994
Published in print: November 1994
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- Intermittent hypoxia: linkage between OSAS and epilepsy, Frontiers in Pharmacology, 14, (2023).https://doi.org/10.3389/fphar.2023.1230313
- Electronic health record cue identifies epilepsy patients at risk for obstructive sleep apnea, Neurology Clinical Practice, 8, 6, (468-471), (2023)./doi/10.1212/CPJ.0000000000000502
- Sleep apnea, hypoxia, and late-onset epilepsy: the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study, SLEEP, 47, 6, (2023).https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsad233
- Orexin receptor antagonists in the pathophysiology and treatment of sleep disorders and epilepsy, Neuropeptides, 99, (102335), (2023).https://doi.org/10.1016/j.npep.2023.102335
- Sleep in children with neurological disorders, Encyclopedia of Sleep and Circadian Rhythms, (663-669), (2023).https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-822963-7.00032-3
- Effects of Obstructive Sleep Apnea on Epilepsy, and Continuous Positive Airway Pressure as a Treatment Option, Journal of Clinical Medicine, 11, 7, (2063), (2022).https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm11072063
- Interictal sleep recordings during presurgical evaluation: Bidirectional perspectives on sleep related network functioning, Revue Neurologique, 178, 7, (703-713), (2022).https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neurol.2022.03.011
- Sleep Disruption Worsens Seizures: Neuroinflammation as a Potential Mechanistic Link, International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 22, 22, (12531), (2021).https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms222212531
- Experimental chronic sleep fragmentation alters seizure susceptibility and brain levels of interleukins 1β and 6, Acta Neurobiologiae Experimentalis, 81, 1, (96-109), (2021).https://doi.org/10.21307/ane-2021-010
- Proceedings of the Sleep and Epilepsy Workshop: Section 1 Decreasing Seizures: Improving Sleep and Seizures, Themes for Future Research, Epilepsy Currents, 21, 3, (204-209), (2021).https://doi.org/10.1177/15357597211004566
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