Sleep evaluation in human envenomation by south american rattlesnake Crotalus: polysomnography and multiple sleep latency test / Alteraçöes do sono no acidente ofídico (Crotalus): polissonografia e teste das latências múltiplas do sono

ten patients were hospitalized 3-6 h after having been envenomed by South American rattlesnake Crotalus. They were treated with specific serum therapy and developed the usual neurological signs of unir or bilateral ptosis, miastenic facies of Rosenfeld, pupilary diameter changes, extraoculr palsy, difficulty in accomodation, blurred vision, douboe vision, equilibrium impairment, cerebellar gait and decreased deep tendon reflexes. The daytime sleepiness was quantified by means of the Multiple Sleep Latency Test, showing an increase in sleepiness for two weeks after the envenomation. All-night polysomnography showed increase in REM sleep as well as REM density and decrease in REM latency, up to a period of two weeks after envenomation