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REM sleep behavior disorder and REM sleep without atonia in probable Alzheimer disease
Jean-François Gagnon1, Dominique Petit, Maria Livia Fantini
1Centre d'étude du sommeil et des rythmes biologiques, Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur de Montréal, Qudbec, Canada.
Study Objective:
To determine the frequency of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behavior disorder (RBD) and REM sleep without atonia among patients with Alzheimer disease and control subjects.
Design:
Overnight polysomnography.
Settings:
Sleep laboratory.
Patients:
Fifteen patients with probable Alzheimer disease (mean age +/-SD, 70.2+/-5.6) and 15 age-matched healthy control subjects (mean age +/- SD, 67.9 +/-5.4).
Intervention:
N/A.
Results:
Four patients with Alzheimer disease presented REM sleep with-out atonia. One of these patients had all the polysomnographic features of RBD, including behavioral manifestations during REM sleep.
Conclusion:
RBD is rare, but REM sleep without atonia is relatively fre-quent in patients with probable Alzheimer disease, a tauopathy.
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