Sleep disorders in patients with epilepsy

Introduction The close relationship between sleep and epilepsy is widely documented in clinical and electrophysiological investigations. However comorbidity between epilepsy and sleep disorders is poorly investigated in the literature and rarely taken into consideration by clinicians in general practice. We try to assess the prevalence of sleep disorders in patients with drug-resistant partial-seizure epilepsy. Materials and methods Data from a consecutive cohort of patients with refractory partial-seizure epilepsy admitted in the inpatient video-EEG monitoring unit in a tertiary referral hospital over a two-year period were analyzed. Patients with a comorbidity of psychiatric disorders were excluded. Patients were tested for sleep disorders using the Thomas Memorial Hospital Sleep Disorders Centre questionnaire. Data were compared with a control group matched with patients by age and demography. Results 18 patients and 19 controls were included in the study. 19% of patients and 12% of controls complain of symptoms of possible insomnia, 20% of patients and 7% of controls of possible obstructive sleep apnea, 17% of patients and 10% of controls of excessive daytime sleepiness, 32% of patients and 11% of controls of possible restless leg syndrome and/or possible periodic leg movement syndrome, and 43% of patients and 5% of controls of possible parasomnia. Conclusion The results of this study demonstrate that many patients with epilepsy complain of sleep disorder symptoms. A greater awareness among clinicians of the comorbidities between sleep disorders and epilepsy may help to prevent misdiagnosis and mistreatment. Further studies are needed in order to investigate the prevalence and impact of these comorbidities in patients with controlled and untreated epilepsy. Acknowledgements Inpatient video-EEG monitoring Unit, Epilepsy Unit, University Hospital Virgen del Rocio. Seville, Spain.