Recurrent hyper- and hyposomnia: a new diagnostic entity? Polysomnographic findings and a 30-year follow-up.
OBJECTIVE
This study reports on the sleep evaluation and follow-up of a professional woman who, in her 30s and 40s, had a decade of severe episodic fluctuations in the length of her sleep (12 vs. 4 h).


BACKGROUND
Severe psychogenic fluctuations in the duration of sleep have not previously been described except in bipolar disorders.


METHODS
Psychological and medical history and a total of 29 polysomnogram nights are presented, as well as a 30-year follow-up interview.


RESULTS
Long sleep episodes (>10 h) were characterized by excessive stage 1 sleep and a stage we called 'very light sleep' (over 50% alpha waves mixed with 5-10% delta waves). Long sleeps were also associated with hyperphagia and hypersexuality. Short sleeps (<4 h) emphasized delta and REM sleep. Sleep normalized spontaneously after about a decade of severe fluctuations.


CONCLUSIONS
In this patient, the recurrent hypersomnia/hyposomnia episodes may have been based mainly on psychiatric factors.
Hauri
Peter J
PJ
Mayo Clinic-Sleep Disorders Center, 200 First Street, SW, Rochester, MN 55905, USA. hauri.peter@mayo.edu