title: Secondary ''incidental'' REM sleep behavior disorder: do we ever think of it?
abstract: Most secondary forms of REM sleep behavior disorder are associated with neurodegenerative diseases belonging to the α-synucleinopathies or with narcolepsy. However, RBD may also occur in subacute- or acute-onset conditions involving the central nervous system, irrespective of subjects' age and sex, and with or without relapse at follow-up. These conditions include structural brain lesions (vascular, demyelinating, tumoral, iatrogenic, etc.), CNS diseases (encephalitis, Guillain-Barré syndrome, etc.), forms induced by drug consumption or alcohol withdrawal, and possibly post-traumatic stress disorder. This review focuses on these forms of RBD, which are referred to as 'acute' as they occur as incidental phenomena within the context of other subacute- or acute-onset disorders. In these cases, RBD does not appear as a 'classical' clinical feature of the underlying condition, but rather as an intercurrent, somewhat unexpected phenomenon that deserves consideration in routine clinical practice, in order to avoid misdiagnoses and mistreatments.
authors.affiliation: Unit of Sleep Medicine and Epilepsy, National Institute of Neurology, IRCCS C Mondino Foundation, Via Mondino 2, 27100 Pavia, Italy. raffaele.manni@mondino.it
authors.forename: Raffaele
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Manni
authors.forename: Pietro-Luca
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Ratti
authors.forename: Michele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Terzaghi
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D017286:Polysomnography; D020187:REM Sleep Behavior Disorder / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D012890:Sleep / Q000502:physiology; D012895:Sleep, REM / Q000502:physiology