Co-activation of rhythms during alpha band oscillations as an interictal biomarker of exploding head syndrome.

Background: Exploding head syndrome is a rarely reported benign sensory parasomnia that may nonetheless have significant impact on patients' quality of life and their perceived well-being. To date, the mechanisms underlying attacks, characterised by a painless perception of abrupt, loud noises at transitional sleep-wake or wake-sleep states, are by and large unclear.

Methods And Results: In order to address the current gap in the knowledge of potential underlying pathophysiology, a retrospective case-control study of polysomnographic recordings of patients presenting to a tertiary sleep disorders clinic with exploding head syndrome was conducted.

NREM parasomnias: a treatment approach based upon a retrospective case series of 512 patients.

Background: Non-REM parasomnias are not uncommon conditions in the general population. Current treatment options are based on small case series and reports. In this study, we aimed to present the clinical experience from a large cohort of patients.

Safety and efficacy of long-term use of sodium oxybate for narcolepsy with cataplexy in routine clinical practice.

Background: Sodium oxybate is licensed in Europe for the treatment of narcolepsy with cataplexy in adults. The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy and safety of sodium oxybate in clinical practice in patients with narcolepsy and cataplexy refractory to other treatments.

Materials And Methods: This was a retrospective single centre study including patients with severe narcolepsy with cataplexy refractory to other treatments, who were initiated on sodium oxybate between 2009 and 2015.

Emerging co-morbidities of obstructive sleep apnea: cognition, kidney disease, and cancer.

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) causes daytime fatigue and sleepiness, and has an established relationship with cardiovascular and metabolic disease. Recent years have seen the emergence of an evidence base linking OSA with an increased risk of degenerative neurological disease and associated cognitive impairment, an accelerated rate of decline in kidney function with an increased risk of clinically significant chronic kidney disease (CKD), and with a significantly higher rate of cancer incidence and death. This review evaluates the evidence base linking OSA with these seemingly unrelated co-morbidities, and explores potential mechanistic links underpinning their development in patients with OSA, including intermittent hypoxia (IH), sleep fragmentation, sympathetic excitation, and immune dysregulation.

Catathrenia, a REM predominant disorder of arousal?

Objectives: Catathrenia is an uncommon and poorly understood disorder, characterized by groaning during sleep occurring in tandem with prolonged expiration. Its classification, pathogenesis, and clinical relevance remain debated, substantially due to the limited number of cases reported to date. We report a series of consecutive cases of catathrenia, their clinical and polysomnographic characteristics, and their subsequent management.

The Montreal Cognitive Assessment: validity and utility in a memory clinic setting.

Objective: To prospectively validate the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) in a UK memory clinic.

Method: We administered the MoCA and Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) to 32 subjects fulfilling diagnostic criteria for dementia, to 23 subjects fulfilling diagnostic criteria for mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and to 12 memory clinic comparison subjects, at baseline and then at 6-month follow-up. Clinical diagnoses for dementia and MCI were made according to ICD-10 and Petersen criteria.