Recognizing the Symptom Spectrum of Narcolepsy to Improve Timely Diagnosis: A Narrative Review

Laury Quaedackers, Sigrid Pillen, Sebastiaan Overeem (Corresponding author)

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

9 Citations (Scopus)
64 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Narcolepsy is a chronic sleep disorder with a strong negative impact on quality of life, especially when untreated. Diagnostic delay is a persistent problem, with obvious detrimental effects on patients. A diagnosis of narcolepsy may be delayed because of its broad symptom presentation which is much more encompassing than the classical "tetrad" of sleepiness, cataplexy, hallucinations, and sleep paralysis. Furthermore, symptoms can vary over time. Presentation of symptoms can also be markedly different between children and adults. Finally, common sleep-related comorbidities increase the risk of narcolepsy being masked by overlapping symptoms or treatment. In this review, we provide a detailed description of the broad and dynamic symptom spectrum of narcolepsy, with specific attention to the different manifestations in both adults and children. The overarching goal is to help not only sleep specialists, but general practitioners, pediatricians, and other caregivers with early recognition and prompt diagnosis of this severe but treatable disorder.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1083-1096
Number of pages14
JournalNature and Science of Sleep
Volume13
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2021

Bibliographical note

© 2021 Quaedackers et al.

Funding

This work was performed within the IMPULS framework of the Eindhoven MedTech Innovation Center (e/MTIC, a collaboration between Sleep Medicine Centre Kempenhaeghe, Eindhoven University of Technology, and Philips Research), co-financed with a PPS-supplement for research and innovation from the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate.

FundersFunder number
Sleep Medicine Centre Kempenhaeghe
Eindhoven University of Technology
Ministerie van Economische Zaken en Klimaat

    Keywords

    • Cataplexy
    • Diagnosis
    • Diagnostic delay
    • Narcolepsy type 1
    • Pediatrics
    • Polysomnography
    • Screening

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