Sleep Abnormalities in Wilson's Disease

The aim of this article was to review the different sleep disorders associated with Wilson's disease (WD), their mechanisms and their treatments.

Some of these disorders such as REM sleep behavior disorder or sleepiness can appear as a prodromal phase phenomenon in WD allowing an early treatment of the disease and sometimes a resolution of the sleep disorder. Sleep disorders in WD are frequent combining insomnia, daytime sleepiness, restless legs syndrome (RLS), cataplexy-like episodes, and REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD). 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 or metabolic disorders.