Very late-onset narcolepsy type 1: diagnosis in the ninth decade

The age of onset of narcolepsy ranges from childhood to the fourth decade of life, with onset after 50s being rare. Onset at an advanced age is one of the factors involved in the delay in diagnosis. On the other hand, excessive daytime sleepiness, the cardinal and most frequent symptom, is common to many other conditions, contributing to the underdiagnosis of this disorder. We present the case of a patient in the 80s with the onset of typical symptoms of narcolepsy type 1. Some comorbidities frequently associated with narcolepsy were also identified, such as obstructive sleep apnoea, restless legs syndrome and periodic limb movement disorder.