Autonomic Dysfunction and Sleep Disorder in 35 Autoimmune Encephalitis.

Area of Science:

• Neurology
• Sleep Medicine
• Immunology

Background:

• Autoimmune encephalitis (AE) often presents with complex neurological and psychiatric symptoms.
• Sleep disorders and autonomic dysfunction are frequently overlooked in AE patient management.
• Addressing these comorbidities can potentially improve AE patient outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the prevalence of sleep disorders and autonomic dysfunction in autoimmune encephalitis patients in Isfahan City.
• To explore potential correlations between sleep/autonomic issues and clinical/diagnostic findings in AE.

Main Methods:

• A descriptive-analytical study involving 35 autoimmune encephalitis patients.
• Utilized the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index for sleep assessment.
• Analyzed data using SPSS with chi-square and independent samples t-tests.

Main Results:

• High prevalence of sleep disorders (65.7%) and autonomic dysfunction (62.9%) observed.
• No significant correlation found between sleep/autonomic issues and EEG findings.
• A notable association was found between sleep disorders and normal MRI findings (P=0.012).
• Concurrent sleep and autonomic disturbances occurred in 48.57% of patients.
• Significant association between sleep/autonomic disturbances and antibody type (seronegative and anti-NMDA positive).

Conclusions:

• Sleep and autonomic disturbances are common in autoimmune encephalitis patients.
• These disturbances are not always linked to detectable structural lesions on conventional imaging.
• Antibody type is a significant factor associated with sleep and autonomic dysfunction in AE.