[Epilepsy and sleep-wake cycle].

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Sleep and epilepsy have strong reciprocal influences and this is true for all kinds of epilepsies. The interictal paroxysmal activity increases in slow wave sleep and the localization of the primary epileptogenic area is more reliable in paradoxical sleep. DEVELOPMENT: From a practical point of view, an all-night sleep recording or a short-term sleep EEG recording during daytime, preceded or not by sleep deprivation, are both convenient procedures for the diagnosis and for evaluating the prognosis of epilepsy. Aldrich et al have reported the usefulness of video-EEG polysomnography in the diagnosis of nocturnal seizures versus non-epileptic manifestations such NREM/REM dyssomnias, even in patients with no known history of epilepsy. Sleepiness and nocturnal sleep disturbances have long been recognized in epileptic patients. A review of the literature shows a high incidence of sleep complaints among epileptics. The interaction of epilepsy, antiepileptic drugs and the sleep-wake cycle has been extensively investigated.