"I'm always sleepy, am I ill?" – Case report of narcolepsy in adolescence
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15448/1980-6108.2014.1.15877Keywords:
REM SLEEP PARASOMNIAS, DISORDERS OF EXCESSIVE SOMNOLENCE, NARCOLEPSY, ADOLESCENCE.Abstract
AIMS: Excessive daytime sleepiness is relatively common in adolescence, and rarely has a pathological etiology. The authors report a case of excessive daytime sleepiness due to narcolepsy in a teenager, and a review of the literature about this disease. CASE DESCRIPTION: A 16 year-old adolescent, female, since one year ago with excessive daytime sleepiness and microsleeps during her daily activities, despite adequate sleep hygiene. Physical examination was normal. Analytical study, electroencephalogram and polysomnography unremarkable. The multiple sleep latency test revealed a sleep latency of 4:22 minutes and two REM (Rapid Eye Movement) periods at sleep onset (SOREMp), suggestive of severe hypersomnia with criteria of narcolepsy. Treatment with modafinil was started, with favorable outcome. CONCLUSIONS: Narcolepsy is a rare and under diagnosed disorder in children. The disease has a negative impact on the child’s emotional, behavioral and school/work life, which can be minimized by an adequate and timely diagnosis and therapeutics.Downloads
Download data is not yet available.
Downloads
Published
2014-05-10
How to Cite
Antunes, J. da C. F., Fernandes, P., & Silveira, A. (2014). "I’m always sleepy, am I ill?" – Case report of narcolepsy in adolescence. Scientia Medica, 24(1), 79–84. https://doi.org/10.15448/1980-6108.2014.1.15877
Issue
Section
Case Reports
License
Copyright
The submission of originals to Scientia Medica implies the transfer by the authors of the right for publication. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication. If the authors wish to include the same data into another publication, they must cite Scientia Medica as the site of original publication.
Creative Commons License
Except where otherwise specified, material published in this journal is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license, which allows unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original publication is correctly cited.
