Sleep Abnormalities in MultipleSystem Atrophy

The purpose of this review was to explore the different sleep disorders associated with MSA, their mechanisms, and their treatments.

Stridor is a red flag for the diagnosis of MSA. Recent findings show that its presence in early stage of the disease is associated with a reduction in life expectancy. Its management should be fast and adapted. Its treatment with continuous positive airway pressure or tracheostomy is efficacious. Sleep disorders in MSA are frequent and severe combining insomnia, daytime sleepiness, restless legs syndrome (RLS), REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD), and sleep disordered breathing (SDB). Sleep recordings confirm these disorders. Mechanisms involved in these disorders are complex associating (a) lesions of the pathways regulating sleep and wake or mood but also controlling movement, (b) iatrogenic effects of the treatments, and (3) consequences of the motor or dysautonomic symptoms. RBD prevalence is very high at the beginning of the motor symptoms but then seems to disappear.