A Case of Complex and Abnormal Behaviors at Night: The Role of the Epilepsy Monitoring Unit in Diagnosis

Complex nocturnal behaviors associated with sleep have many potential causes, including parasomnias and epilepsy. Although the type of event and description can frequently lead to a diagnosis, sometimes it is challenging clinically to determine the cause of the behaviors, requiring a more in-depth i...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Case reports in neurology 2020-01, Vol.12 (1), p.18-23
Main Authors: Diaz-Abad, Montserrat, Sanchez, Ana M., Kabir, Arif, Konikkara, John
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Amnesia
Behavior
Case reports
Convulsions & seizures
diagnosis
Electroencephalography
Epilepsy
epilepsy monitoring unit
Hallucinations
Medical diagnosis
Nervous system
parasomnia
Patients
Single Case - General Neurology
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Complex nocturnal behaviors associated with sleep have many potential causes, including parasomnias and epilepsy. Although the type of event and description can frequently lead to a diagnosis, sometimes it is challenging clinically to determine the cause of the behaviors, requiring a more in-depth investigation. We report the case of a 29-year-old woman with a long history of complex abnormal behaviors and visual hallucinations at night. An extensive clinical evaluation failed to reveal a definitive cause of these episodes, prompting a 3-day epilepsy monitoring unit admission. During the stay, several events were captured on video electroencephalography, leading to a conclusive final diagnosis. This case highlights the challenging task of finding a definitive diagnosis in cases of complex nocturnal behaviors and the potential role of an admission to an epilepsy monitoring unit to help diagnose the cause of these behaviors.
ISSN:1662-680X
1662-680X
DOI:10.1159/000505230