[Agrypnia (organic insomnia)].
The word agrypnia, ie, organic insomnia, was first used to describe a patient with a Morvan fibrillary chorea, which is an ill-delineated syndrome. This review considers the experimental insomnia created by raphe nuclei, anterior hypothalamic, or thalamic lesions. There are some papers reporting REM and non-REM sleep reduction in man after vascular, traumatic or degenerative lesion of the pons. There is only one case of agrypnia due to a bilateral stereotatic thalamic injury. Infectious agrypnia (trypanosomiasis, Von Economo) may exist but has not been documented by polygraphic means. Fatal familial insomnia induces a precocious agrypnia and leads to death with vegetative and motor disturbances. It is associated with an abnormal prion-protein which may interfere with gabaergic synapses. Finally agrypnia in humans corresponds to either lesionnal or infra microscopic synaptic prion linked disorders.
Autret
A
A
Clinique neurologique, CHU Bretonneau, Tours, France.
Henry-Le Bras
F
F
Duvelleroy-Hommet
C
C
Lucas
B
B
de Toffol
B
B
D000818:Animals; D001927:Brain Diseases / Q000150:complications*; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000150:complications; D002819:Chorea / Q000150:complications; D006801:Humans; D007239:Infections / Q000150:complications; D009410:Nerve Degeneration / Q000502:physiology; D017096:Prion Diseases / Q000150:complications; D007319:Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D014652:Vascular Diseases / Q000150:complications