A polysomnographic study of slow-wave sleep loss in elderly patients with epilepsy

Objective

The primary objective is to explore what causes slow-wave sleep loss in elderly patients with epilepsy. The secondary objective is to identify the PSG characteristics in elderly patients with epilepsy. The clinical demographics, sleep architecture, sleep-related events, and interictal epileptiform discharges are to be evaluated in the objectives.

Methods

The video electroencephalography (VEEG) and polysomnogram (PSG) data from 44 elderly patients with epilepsy and 52 elderly patients with sleep disorders but without definite central nervous system diseases were analysed. This was a case-control study. The differences in the PSG sleep architecture parameters (total sleep time (TST), sleep efficiency, wake after sleep onset, etc.) and sleep-related events (apnea hypopnea index, oxygen desaturation index (ODI), periodic limb movement index, etc.) between the epilepsy and control groups. As Additionally, these parameters were assessed within the elderly patients with epilepsy, comparing the slow-wave sleep existence and slow-wave sleep loss groups, using VEEG and PSG.

Results

The epileptic group exhibited significantly lower TST (343.477 ± 96.3046min vs 389.115 ± 61.5727min, p < 0.05), rapid eye movement (%) (13.011 ± 7.5384 vs 16.992 ± 6.7025, p < 0.05), non-rapid eye movement stage 3 (%) (1.35[0,7.225] vs 3.65[0.425,13.75], p < 0.05), and sleep efficiency (%) (69.482 ± 14.1771% vs 77.242 ± 10.6171%, p < 0.05). Conversely, the ODI (25.6[9.825,51.775] events/hour vs 16.85[5.3,30.425] events/hour, p < 0.05) and spontaneous arousal index (4.0455[2.1805,6.9609] events/hour vs 2.9709[1.4747,5.0554] events/hour, p < 0.05) were significantly higher in elderly patients with epilepsy. The prevalence of obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) was significantly higher in the slow-wave sleep loss group than in the slow-wave sleep existence group (100% vs 77.8%, p < 0.05). The incidence of slow-wave sleep loss was lower in patients with epilepsy aged between 75 and 85 years compared to those aged between 65 and 75 years.

Conclusion

Elderly patients with epilepsy exhibit higher levels of ODI and spontaneous arousal index. Our findings indicate that OSAHS could be a contributing factor to slow-wave sleep loss in this population. The incidence of slow-wave sleep loss was lower in patients aged above 75 years among elderly patients with epilepsy.

Sleep Deficiency in Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Sleep deficiency in patients with obstructive sleep apnea includes abnormal quality, timing, and duration of sleep, and the presence of other comorbid conditions. These include insomnia, circadian misalignment disorders, and periodic limb movements of sleep. The co-occurrence of these conditions with obstructive sleep apnea likely plays a role in the pathogenesis, clinical presentation, and management of obstructive sleep apnea. Considering these conditions and their treatment in evaluating sleep deficiency in obstructive sleep apnea may help to improve patient outcomes. However, future research is needed to understand the intersection between obstructive sleep apnea and these disorders.

Risk of current suicidal ideations associated with lifelong anhedonia and recent change of anhedonia in individuals with insomnia: A cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

Individuals with insomnia are a subpopulation at high-risk of suicide. However, despite the elements in favour of an implication of anhedonia in the occurrence of current suicidal ideations (SI), no study has investigated the role played by this affective symptom in the occurrence of current SI in individuals with insomnia. The aim of this study was to investigate the risk of current SI associated with lifelong anhedonia and recent change of anhedonia in individuals with insomnia.

METHOD

Demographic and polysomnographic data from 493 individuals with insomnia selected retrospectively from the clinical database of the Erasme Hospital Sleep Laboratory were analysed. Current SI were considered present if the score in item 9 of the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II) was ≥1 and/or if they were highlighted during the systematic psychiatric assessment conducted on admission to the Sleep Laboratory. Logistic regression analyses were used to determine the risk of current SI associated with anhedonia in individuals with insomnia.

RESULTS

The prevalence of current SI was 21.5% in our sample of individuals with insomnia. After adjusting for major confounding factors, multivariate logistic regression analyses demonstrated that unlike lifelong anhedonia, only recent change of anhedonia was a risk factor for current SI in individuals with insomnia.

CONCLUSION

In this study, we demonstrated that in individuals with insomnia, recent change of anhedonia is a risk factor for current SI, which seems to justify more systematic research and adequate therapeutic management of this condition to allow better prevention in this particular subpopulation at high-risk of suicide.

Periodic limb movements during sleep are associated with poor health-related quality of life in patients with obstructive sleep apnea

PURPOSE

The clinical significance of the comorbidity of periodic limb movements during sleep (PLMS) in sleep-disordered breathing remains unclear. This study aimed to determine whether or not the presence of PLMS is related to depressed mood and poor quality of life in subjects with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).

METHODS

We defined PLMS as a periodic leg movement index of > 15/h. Scores for the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form Health Survey and Beck Depression Inventory were assessed with multiple logistic or linear regression analyses.

RESULTS

Of 1370 subjects with OSA, a prevalence of PLMS was 14.1%. Older age, men, and obesity were positively associated with PLMS. PLMS occurred in 17%, 15%, and 12% of mild, moderate, and severe subjects with OSA, respectively. Severe OSA was less likely to be associated with PLMS than mild OSA. PLMS negatively correlated with physical and mental component summary scores of the health survey but not with Beck Depression Inventory scores after controlling for confounding variables. PLMS were significantly associated with poor sleep architecture on polysomnography. However, the relationship between PLMS and disturbed sleep was no longer significant after adjusting for age.

CONCLUSIONS

Health-related quality of life, including physical and mental health but not depressive symptoms, was worse in subjects with OSA and PLMS than in those without PLMS.

Sleep state instabilities in patients with periodic limb movements in sleep - Detection and quantification with heart rate variability

BACKGROUND

Restless legs syndrome (RLS) has been thought to increase the risk of hypertension, cardiovascular events, and all-cause mortality. Periodic limb movements in sleep (PLMS) can be observed in most patients with RLS. Using non-invasive physiologic measurement and analysis, including heart rate variability (HRV) analysis, we aimed to investigate sleep quality and sleep state stability.

METHOD

A total of 53 healthy controls and 15 patients with RLS and PLMS were recruited. Patients with other sleep-related disorders such as obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and major depressive disorder (MDD) were excluded. Each subject was evaluated using sleep and mood questionnaires and had to undergo polysomnography (PSG). HRV analysis was applied to assess autonomic function and analyze correlations with the severity of periodic leg movements (PLM). The power of different brainwaves was analyzed using electroencephalogram (EEG). Electromyogram (EMG) was also used to explore the temporal correlation between changes in HRV and leg movement events.

RESULTS

Compared with healthy controls, PLMS group had not only poorer perceived sleep and mood questionnaires scales but also reductions in parasympathetic-related HRV indices and increases in sympathetic-related HRV parameters. The changes were in proportion to the severity of PLM. Brainwaves and sleep stage which indicate "deep sleep" decreased in the PLMS group. There were no significant temporal correlations between changes in HRV and leg movement events.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings suggest that patients with RLS and PLMS have poorer subjective sleep and mood scales. Besides, objective sleep quality including HRV analysis and brainwaves analysis revealed reduced parasympathetic tone, increased sympathetic tone, and sleep disturbance, which reveal the possibility of a higher risk for secondary disease.

Cardiometabolic comorbidities in obstructive sleep apnea patients are related to disease severity, nocturnal hypoxemia, and decreased sleep quality

BACKGROUND

Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSA) is currently recognized as an independent risk factor for hypertension, arrhythmia, coronary heart disease, stroke, and metabolic disorders (e.g. diabetes, dyslipidemia). In clinical practice, apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) is the marker used to classify disease severity and guide treatment. However, AHI alone does not sufficiently identify OSA patients at risk for cardiometabolic comorbidities. With this in mind, the aim of this retrospective study was to determine whether some polysomnographic parameters (e.g. apnea-hypopnea duration, sleep structure, nocturnal hypoxemia) are specifically associated with cardiometabolic comorbidities in OSA.

METHODS

In this retrospective study, 1717 patients suffering from moderate/severe OSA were included between 2013 and 2017. Data on demographics, comorbidities, and polysomnographic characteristics were collected and analyzed to identify factors associated with cardiometabolic complications.

RESULTS

The medical files of 1717 patients (68% male) were reviewed. The mean AHI was 43.1 +/- 27.7 with 57.3% of patients suffering from severe OSA, and 52% from at least one cardiovascular comorbidity (CVCo). Diabetes affected 22% of the patients and 27% exhibited dyslipidemia. Patients affected by CVCos were older, and more often women and non-smokers. These patients also had worse sleep quality, and a more marked intermittent/global nocturnal hypoxemia. With regard to diabetes, diabetics were older, more often non-smoker, non-drinker women, and were more obese. These patients also exhibited more severe OSA, especially in non-REM (NREM) sleep, worse sleep quality, and a more marked intermittent/global nocturnal hypoxemia. Dyslipidemia was more frequent in the absence of alcohol consumption, and was associated with OSA severity, decreased sleep quality, and longer AH in REM sleep.

CONCLUSIONS

This study identifies demographic and polysomnographic factors associated with cardiometabolic comorbidities. Patients (especially women) suffering from more severe OSA, longer sleep apneas and hypopneas, worse sleep quality, and marked intermittent/global nocturnal hypoxemia are more likely to develop cardiometabolic comorbidities. This should stimulate clinicians to obtain adequate treatment in this population.

Design of a deep learning model for automatic scoring of periodic and non-periodic leg movements during sleep validated against multiple human experts

OBJECTIVE

Currently, manual scoring is the gold standard of leg movement scoring (LMs) and periodic LMs (PLMS) in overnight polysomnography (PSG) studies, which is subject to inter-scorer variability. The objective of this study is to design and validate an end-to-end deep learning system for the automatic scoring of LMs and PLMS in sleep.

METHODS

The deep learning system was developed, validated and tested, with respect to manual annotations by expert technicians on 800 overnight PSGs using a leg electromyography channel. The study includes data from three cohorts, namely, the Wisconsin Sleep Cohort (WSC), Stanford Sleep Cohort (SSC) and MrOS Sleep Study. The performance of the system was further compared against individual expert technicians and existing PLM detectors.

RESULTS

The system achieved an F1 score of 0.83, 0.71, and 0.77 for the WSC, SSC, and an ancillary study (Osteoporotic Fractures in Men Study, MrOS) cohorts, respectively. In a total of 60 PSGs from the WSC and the SSC scored by nine expert technicians, the system performed better than two and comparable to seven of the individual scorers with respect to a majority-voting consensus of the remaining scorers. In 60 PSGs from the WSC scored accurately for PLMS, the system outperformed four previous PLM detectors, which were all evaluated on the same data, with an F1 score of 0.85.

CONCLUSIONS

The proposed system performs better or comparable to individual expert technicians while outperforming previous automatic detectors. Thereby, the study validates fully automatic methods for scoring LMs in sleep.

Restless legs syndrome and periodic limb movements of sleep

Restless legs syndrome describes a curious need to stretch and move in response to an unpleasant feeling in the legs. For most people who have this, as they are drifting off to sleep there is a twitch of the toe, foot and ankle followed by another and then another. The limb movements are strikingly periodic and are described as such by frustrated bed partners. The pathophysiology remains debated but is likely to involve dopaminergic dysfunction and ascending arousal systems. Despite a prevalence of 5-10% in the general population, the variable nature of symptoms and difficulty describing the dysaesthesia often leads to delay in treatment. This article outlines the diagnostic criteria, medication and comorbidities that modify symptoms, the impact of restless legs syndrome on health, and symptomatic management. Several licensed therapies are effective but the dopamine agonists in particular can cause challenging side effects and paradoxically worsen symptoms over time. Case histories are reviewed to guide physicians.

Sex-Related Differences in Sleep-Related PSG Parameters and Daytime Complaints in a Clinical Population

BACKGROUND

Recent research suggested that perception of sleep impairments might present sex-related effects (ie, women appear to be more prone to report fatigue rather than sleepiness). The latter has been evidenced in sleep-related breathing disorders (SRBD). Differently, it has been suggested that sleep-related movement disorders may also be associated to fatigue rather than to sleepiness. Whether sex-related differences would be similar irrespective of diagnosis remains unclear.

METHODS

During a one-year period, systematic clinical evaluation, by means of structured symptom scales, was performed for a cohort of 921 consecutive patients attending an academic sleep center for polysomnography. The Brugmann Fatigue Scale (BFS), an instrument designed for the assessment of rest propensity was used among other scales (ie, Epworth Sleepiness Scale, ESS). According to inclusion and exclusion criteria, 420 men and 376 women were finally included in the study and retained for data analysis.

RESULTS

While men and women presented with similar age, BMI, total sleep time and sleep efficiency, men presented with higher levels of respiratory events and more periodic limb movements. Irrespective of diagnosis, women presented with significantly higher levels of sleep-associated complaints on all scales. Comparative stratifications of daytime symptoms, per diagnostic groups (SRBD, Movement Disorders (SRMD) and Insomnia), revealed significant main effects for diagnosis alongside with main effects of biological sex. Associations between common markers of disease severity for SRBD or SRMD and sleep or rest propensity, respectively, only showed significant correlation between periodic limb movements and rest propensity. The strength of association was similarly significant for both sexes.

CONCLUSION

While men displayed more objective impairment on polysomnography (PSG) and lower symptom levels, the opposite was true in women. However, both men and women present with statistically significant associations between SRMD severity (PLMS index) and physical fatigue.

Prevalence and correlates of periodic limb movements in OSA and the effect of CPAP therapy

OBJECTIVE

We sought to assess the prevalence, correlates, and consequences of periodic limb movements of sleep (PLMS) in persons with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and the effect (worsening or improvement) of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy on PLMS in a large prospective multicenter randomized controlled trial.

METHODS

We performed retrospective analyses of data from the Apnea Positive Pressure Long-term Efficacy Study, a prospective multicenter randomized controlled trial. A total of 1,105 persons with OSA enrolled in this study underwent a polysomnographic investigation at baseline, another one for CPAP titration, and another study 6 months after randomization to either active CPAP or sham CPAP.

RESULTS

Of all participants, 19.7% had PLM index (PLMI) ≥10/hour, 14.8% had PLMI ≥15/hour, 12.1% had PLMI ≥20/hour, 9.3% had PLMI ≥25/hour, and 7.5% had PLMI ≥30/hour. The odds of having a PLMI ≥10 were higher in older participants (odds ratio [OR] 1.03, p < 0.001), men (OR 1.63. p = 0.007), those using antidepressants (OR 1.48. p = 0.048), and those with higher caffeine use (OR 1.01, p = 0.04). After controlling for OSA and depression, PLMS were associated with increased sleep latency, reduced sleep efficiency, and reduced total sleep time. No significant relationships were noted between PLMS frequency and subjective sleepiness (Epworth Sleepiness Scale score) or objective sleepiness (Maintenance of Wakefulness Test). There was no differential effect of CPAP in comparison to sham CPAP on PLMS after 6 months of therapy.

CONCLUSIONS

PLMS are common in patients with OSA and are associated with a significant reduction in sleep quality over and above that conferred by OSA. Treatment with CPAP does not affect the severity of PLMS.