ISSN 2326-7283
African Journal of Internal Medicine ISSN: 2326-7283 Vol. 2 (7), pp. 052-053, September, 2013. © International Scholars Journals
Case Report
A case of narcolepsy mistaken for epilepsy
Fesih Aktar1, Mehmet Selçuk Bektaş1, Murat Başaranoğlu1, Mehmet Açıkgöz1, Hayrettin Temel1, Murat Kanğın2, and Hüseyin Çaksen1
1Department of Pediatrics, Yüzüncü Yıl University Faculty of Medicine, Van, Turkey.
2Department of Pediatrics, Diyarbakır Obstetric and Child Diseases Hospital, Diyarbakır, Turkey.
*Corresponding author. E-mail: fesihaktar@yahoo.com
Accepted 24 June, 2013
Abstract
Narcolepsy-cataplexy syndrome is a disease characterized by an irresistible sleep attacks during the day, a sudden decrease in the muscle tone that occurs in resulting excitement, sleep paralysis and hallucinations that may occur while falling asleep or awakening. Narcolepsy is uncommon in children but may sometimes occur in adolescence. In approximately 50% of the cases, the beginning of the syndrome is between the age of 10-20 and 5% are under 10 years of age. A fifteen year-old male patient was brought to our clinic with the complaint of sleeping too much and this has lasted for the past 3 years. According to his anamnesis, his eyes switch just before falling asleep, periodic limb movements of sleep form at upper and lower extremities when falling asleep, an irresistible need of sleeping arises during the day and he sleeps wherever he is. An epilepsy diagnosis has been established for the patient in another center and also carbamazepine and levetiracetam treatments are applied for one year but the symptoms are still present. A narcolepsy diagnosis has been established and tricyclic antidepressant treatment has been started. Amelioration has been observed in the narcolepsy symptoms of the patient who undergoes the 4th month of treatment. The case has been presented in order to show that narcolepsy might interfere with epilepsy.
Key words: irresistible sleep attacks, epilepsy, sleep paralysis, male patient, narcolepsy.