Rhythmic tongue movements during sleep: a peculiar parasomnia in Costello syndrome.
We describe a peculiar parasomnia observed in four Costello infants, characterized by periodic rhythmic movements of the tongue. Ten Costello patients (4 male; age range 9 months to 29 years) underwent 1 full-night laboratory-based video polysomnography. The four youngest patients (2 male and 2 female; age range 9-31 months) presented during sleep repeated stereotyped movements of the tongue, producing a sucking-like or licking-like movement, mostly during non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep. Rhythmic tongue movements in Costello syndrome show the features of an NREM sleep parasomnia. Tongue movements during sleep probably originate from brainstem structures and could be facilitated by an impaired control of the oropharyngeal and tongue muscles.
Della Marca
Giacomo
G
Unit of Sleep Medicine, Department of Neuroscience, Catholic University, Rome, Italy. dellamarca@rm.unicatt.it
Rubino
Marco
M
Vollono
Catello
C
Vasta
Isabella
I
Scarano
Emanuele
E
Mariotti
Paolo
P
Cianfoni
Alessandro
A
Mennuni
Gioacchino Francesco
GF
Tonali
Pietro
P
Zampino
Giuseppe
G
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004576:Electromyography / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D009069:Movement Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D020447:Parasomnias / Q000150:complications* / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology; D010507:Periodicity; D017286:Polysomnography / Q000379:methods; D012894:Sleep Stages / Q000502:physiology*; D013706:Temporomandibular Joint Dysfunction Syndrome / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology; D014059:Tongue / Q000503:physiopathology*