ABSTRACT
Daytime sleepiness is common in myotonic dystrophy and might be attributed to disturbed nocturnal breathing. Seventeen out of 22 patients complained of excessive daytime sleepiness, resembling "idiopathic hypersomnolence". Sleep apnoea might have contributed to daytime sleepiness in only three of 17 patients. Treatment with the central stimulant methylphenidate produced sustained benefit in seven out of 11 patients tested. Daytime sleepiness in myotonic dystrophy is usually caused by dysfunction of central sleep regulation and not by disturbed nocturnal breathing.
Subject(s)
Myotonic Dystrophy/physiopathology , Sleep Apnea Syndromes/physiopathology , Sleep Wake Disorders/etiology , Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Female , Humans , Male , Methylphenidate/therapeutic use , Middle Aged , Myotonic Dystrophy/complications , Polysomnography , Respiration/physiology , Sleep Apnea Syndromes/complications , Sleep Wake Disorders/drug therapyABSTRACT
In 22 premature children (12 normal prematures and 10 with brain pathology) echodensity was measured as average grey scale values. For performing the measurements, echoencephalograms were recorded on videotape and analysed by an IBM-AT computer and a high resolution framegrabber. An evident difference of echodensity was measured between normal parenchyma, skull, fresh cerebral haemorrhages and cerebral oedema.
