Citation

Kavey NB, Whyte J, Resor SR, Gidro-Frank S. Neurology 1990; 40(5): 749-752.

Affiliation

Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1990, Lippincott Williams and Wilkins)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

2330099

Abstract

We evaluated with clinical interviews and polysomnographic examinations 10 adults with the complaint of sleepwalking, often accompanied by violent behavior or self-injury. During the polysomnographic studies, 8 patients had 47 distinct somnambulistic episodes. All episodes occurred in non-REM sleep, with 91% occurring in slow-wave sleep. Contrary to previous reports, episodes were not confined to the 1st 3rd of the night. Clinical EEGs were normal in 5 of 6 patients. In the 7 patients tried on 1 or more treatment regimens, clonazepam effectively suppressed the somnambulism in 5 of 6 patients in whom it was tried, carbamazepine in 1 of 3, flurazepam in 2 of 2, and a combination of clonazepam and phenytoin in one.

Language: en