Episodic nocturnal wanderings responsive to anticonvulsant drug therapy
- 1 July 1977
- journal article
- case report
- Published by Wiley in Annals of Neurology
- Vol. 2 (1), 30-35
- https://doi.org/10.1002/ana.410020105
Abstract
Six patients between the ages of 17 and 32 years presented with unusual sleep‐walking episodes characterized by screaming or unintelligible vocalizations; complex, often violent automatisms; and ambulation. Two or more attacks could occur in a single night and were most common in the early morning hours. Family and personal histories did not show epilepsy, psychiatric disorders, or (with 1 exception) previous somnambulism. Electrographic investigation revealed that all patients had normal waking‐sleep cycles but that 4 of them had epileptiform abnormalities on their electroencephalograms. All patients were treated with either phenytoin or carbamazepine, with cessation of the abnormal nocturnal behavior during follow‐up periods ranging from 9 to 48 months. This syndrome appears to be distinct from more typical non–rapid eye movement dyssomnias and suggests an atypical form of epilepsy.This publication has 10 references indexed in Scilit:
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