Epilepsy and sleep disorders

Abstract

There is a close association between sleep and epilepsy. In some epilepsy syndromes, seizures occur predominantly (or even exclusively) during sleep or on awakening. Excessive daytime sleepiness is common in patients with epilepsy and may be due not only to medication but also to nocturnal seizures or concomitant sleep disorders. Sleep disorders such as obstructive sleep apnoea can worsen epilepsy, with improvement of seizure control following appropriate treatment of the sleep disorder. Conversely, epilepsy and antiepileptic medication can worsen sleep disorders. Nocturnal epileptic seizures may be difficult to differentiate from parasomnias, in particular non-rapid eye movement parasomnias such as night terrors, sleepwalking and confusional arousals, on history alone since there are semiological similarities between the two disorders. Schemes have been developed to facilitate differential diagnosis, although this remains a challenge even using the gold standard, video-electroencephalography telemetry. © Touch Briefings 2011.