Prevalence of sleep disorders in patients with neurofibromatosis type 1

Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) is frequently associated with neurological disorders unrelated to neurofibromas, including sleep disorders.

This article reviews the prevalence of sleep disorders in patients with NF1, compares rates to data reported in the literature, and analyses the relationship between cognitive disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in these patients.

Comparative retrospective study reviewing data collected between January 2010 and January 2012 from patients diagnosed with NF1 in a tertiary hospital.

We included 95 paediatric patients with NF1 who completed the Bruni Sleep Disturbance Scale in Children. The overall prevalence of sleep disorders was 6.3%, which was lower than in the general paediatric population. Patients with NF1 and ADHD had a higher prevalence of sleep onset and maintenance disorders (18% vs 6.3%), sleep-wake transition disorders (12.5% vs 6.3%), and daytime sleepiness (12.5% vs 7.9%); differences were not statistically significant. A statistically significant difference was found in the subdomain of nocturnal hyperhidrosis (21.9% vs 6.3%, P < 0.05). Patients with NF1 and IQ<85 showed higher prevalence rates of daytime sleepiness (20% vs 6.7%) and of sleep hyperhidrosis (11% vs 0%).

The prevalence of sleep disorders in our cohort of patients with NF1 was no higher than in the general paediatric population, although some of these disorders are more common in cases with cognitive disorders or ADHD.