Prolonged confusion with nocturnal wandering arising from NREM and REM sleep: a case report

A 51-year-old man with Machado-Joseph disease had a 3-year history of prolonged confusion following nightly nocturnal wandering. Polysomnography with videotape monitoring revealed 19- to 120-minute sleepwalking episodes emerging from non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep and occasionally from rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, followed by 22-47 minutes of prolonged confusion and disorientation. The patient also had a periodic limb movement disorder and obstructive sleep apnea syndrome. Excessive daytime sleepiness was evident by results from the Epworth Sleepiness Scale and Multiple Sleep Latency Test. A sleep-deprived electroencephalogram (EEG) and a polysomnogram with an expanded EEG montage before and during these episodes revealed no epileptiform activity. A contrast-enhanced brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan demonstrated findings consistent only with Machado-Joseph disease. The patient improved with a combination of temazepam and carbidopa-levodopa.