Narcolepsy in childhood: A case report

Description

Narcolepsy is characterised by excessive daytime sleepiness and abnormal features of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep such as cataplexy, sleep paralysis and hypnagogic hallucinations. It is rarely diagnosed in preteenaged children. The diagnosis can be delayed because of atypical and mild symptomatology in childhood; furthermore sleepiness may be often obscured by paradoxical hyper activity or behavioral disturbances. We report a case of a 7-year-old boy in order to describe the clinical and polysomnographic features of narcolepsy in childhood.

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