Catathrenia is a rare sleep disease characterized by monotonous groaning sounds that appear to be related with prolonged expiration, commonly experienced during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. Catathrenia is also known as nocturnal groaning or sleep-related groaning and is currently categorized as a sleep-related breathing disorder. We present a rare case of a 19-year-old male with nocturnal groaning during non-REM sleep. We suggest that if catathrenia is suspected, polysomnography should be utilized to differentiate it from various sleep disorders such as snoring, central sleep apnea, sleep talking, parasomnia, and sleep-related movement disorders.
Humans ; Male ; Movement Disorders ; Parasomnias ; Polysomnography ; Respiration ; Sleep Apnea, Central ; Sleep Wake Disorders ; Sleep, REM ; Sleep-Wake Transition Disorders ; Snoring ; Young Adult

Sleepwalking is a rare parasomnia in the elderly. We report two cases of the patients who presented complex motor behaviors during sleep triggered by hypoglycemia. A 76-year-old male patient with diabetes mellitus presented to the sleep clinic for recurrent sleepwalking with amnesia. Night polysomnogram showed REM sleep without atonia with sleep talking and distal arm movements. While taking clonazepam, he had a few more episodes of sleepwalking. The last episode finally revealed severe hypoglycemia when he was found very far from his house. The second patient, a 67-year-old male showed four episodes of nocturnal confusion and sleepwalking lasting 20 minutes during sleep. His blood glucose and HbA1c were low. After decrease of the dose of oral hypoglycemic agent, no more recurrent sleepwalking occurred. Our cases showed hypoglycemia can induce sleepwalking in the older adults, rather than decreased mentality. Metabolic workup should perform for evaluation of sleepwalking, especially in the elderly.
Adult ; Aged ; Amnesia ; Arm ; Blood Glucose ; Clonazepam ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Humans ; Hypoglycemia* ; Male ; Parasomnias ; Polysomnography ; Sleep, REM ; Sleep-Wake Transition Disorders ; Somnambulism*

PURPOSE: We studied the prevalence of snoring and its association with diseases, obesity and environmental factors, as well as sleep disturbance arising from snoring, in school-aged children. METHODS: The survey was performed by a special questionnaire on 1,707 children at elementary schools from 1 to 30 July 2001 in Gwangju City. The prevalence of snoring, associated factors, and sleep disturbance were evaluated. RESULTS: 266(16.5%) of the children snored at least once a week. 73(4.3%) of the children snored almost every day. Regarding the associated factors of snoring : There was a statistically significant difference between snoring and nonsnoring groups due to gender, obesity, sinusitis, tonsillar hypertrophy, bronchial asthma and allergic rhinitis. Of them, male gender, tonsillar hypertrophy, and obesity were significant risk factors for development of snoring. Especially, the odds ratio increased to 1.048(CI, 1.004-1.659), 1.748(CI, 1.175-2.599), and 2.266(CI, 1.300-3.950) in children with an obesity index of 20-29%, 30-49%, >or=50%, respectively. There was a statistically significant association of snoring with decreased sleep duration, sleep talking, and drowsiness during the day as a result of sleep disturbance. CONCLUSION: 16.5% of school-aged children snored at least once a week. The association of snoring with tonsillar hypertrophy, obesity and gender as risk factors was demonstrated in this study.
Asthma ; Child* ; Gwangju ; Humans ; Hypertrophy ; Male ; Obesity ; Odds Ratio ; Prevalence* ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Rhinitis ; Risk Factors ; Sinusitis ; Sleep Stages ; Sleep-Wake Transition Disorders ; Snoring*

Parasomnia overlap disorder is characterized by coexisting rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behavior disorder and non-REM parasomnia. We report herein an 8-year-old boy with REM sleep behavior disorder, sleep talking, and confusional arousal. Polysomnography revealed REM sleep without atonia, and arousal disorder. Neurological examination revealed bilateral ptosis, lateral gaze palsy, facial palsy, vertical nystagmus, and dysmetria. A pontine glioblastoma was found on brain magnetic resonance imaging, which could have been responsible for his neurologic deficit and sleep problem.
Arousal ; Brain ; Cerebellar Ataxia ; Child ; Facial Paralysis ; Glioblastoma ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Neurologic Examination ; Neurologic Manifestations ; Nystagmus, Pathologic ; Paralysis ; Parasomnias ; Polysomnography ; REM Sleep Behavior Disorder ; Sleep Arousal Disorders ; Sleep, REM ; Sleep-Wake Transition Disorders

STUDY DESIGN: Prospective cohort study with questionnaire. PURPOSE: To compare the treatment outcome of nocturnal leg cramps in lumbar spinal canal stenosis (LSCS) patients on conservative treatment with historical surgical cohorts and to determine the sensitivity and specificity as well as positive predictive value and negative predictive value of knee flexion test suggested for LSCS patient. OVERVIEW OF LITERATURE: True prevalence of nocturnal leg cramps in LSCS patients as well as the clinical outcome of its surgical treatment have been reported. METHODS: A questionnaire suggested from previous study with minor modifications was used in this study. Clinical data was collected. Knee flexion test was performed in two groups. RESULTS: The prevalence of nocturnal leg cramp was higher in the LSCS group compared to the control group (second group). In LSCS patients, 38 (88%) had improved leg cramps after the conservative treatment, 3 (6.97%) remained unchanged, and 2 (4.6%) had worsened leg cramps. Of the 43 patients, 21 (48.8%) had no disturbance to their activities of daily living. In the LSCS group, the sensitivity and specificity of the knee flexion test was 53.5% and 33.3%, respectively. The knee flexion test in the LSCS group had a positive predictive value and a negative predictive value of 65.71% and 23.1%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrated that nocturnal leg cramps were significantly more frequent in LSCS patients than in the control group.
Activities of Daily Living ; Cohort Studies ; Constriction, Pathologic* ; Humans ; Knee ; Leg ; Muscle Cramp* ; Prevalence ; Prospective Studies* ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Sleep-Wake Transition Disorders ; Spinal Canal* ; Treatment Outcome ; Surveys and Questionnaires