Following our initial report of the insidious development of reversible, valproate-induced hearing, motor, and cognitive dysfunction in two patients, we evaluated 36 patients in an epilepsy clinic who had been taking therapeutic levels of valproate for at least 12 months; 29 of these patients were examined according to a prospective protocol. We observed varying degrees of parkinsonism and cognitive impairment, from none to severe. Discontinuation of valproate in 32 affected patients led to subjective and objective improvement on follow-up testing at least 3 months later. Improvement was greatest in patients who were affected most. We conclude that a syndrome of reversible parkinsonism and cognitive impairment may develop insidiously in patients who have been treated with valproate for more than 12 months. The association with valproate may be overlooked due to the insidious onset.

Rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (RBD) is a parasomnia in which there is enactment, often violent, of dream mentation. Although this syndrome is sometimes associated with neurologic disorders, psychiatric comorbidity is not typical. The authors present a unique series of veterans with RBD. A high incidence of comorbidity with post-traumatic stress disorder is noted. The literature on RBD is reviewed, and the coexistence of RBD and post-traumatic stress disorder is reasoned. The authors suggest that it is possible that similar neuropathologic processes are responsible for both conditions, at times in the same patient.

38 male patients with obstructive sleep apnea were asked to complete 2 weeks of rating symptoms, physical examination, diagnostic polysomnography, and MMPI testing prior to being placed on nasal continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy. Six months later, 26 (72.2%) of the 36 subjects available for follow-up showed continued compliance. A regression analysis conducted with those 28 subjects who completed all pretreatment measures showed that continued therapy was predicted by such pretreatment measures as patients' body mass index, ratings of daytime sleepiness and nocturnal sleep quality, and MMPI Depression and Hypochondriasis scale scores (R2 = 0.63). Eventual compliers had a higher Body Mass Index, reported less daytime sleepiness and better nocturnal sleep quality, and scored lower on the MMPI D and Hs scales prior to treatment than did the noncompliers. A linear discriminant function analysis with analog cross-validation showed these five predictors would identify approximately 80% of eventual noncompliers and 97% of those who display compliance. It was concluded that subjective report and personality measures may be useful in predicting long-term use. Additional studies are needed to assess the clinical significance of the noted MMPI scale elevations among sleep apnea patients in general and among those patients who display eventual noncompliance.

No abstract

The effects of a low-carbohydrate, ketogenic diet (LCKD) on sleepiness and other narcolepsy symptoms were studied. Nine patients with narcolepsy were asked to adhere to the Atkins' diet plan, and their symptoms were assessed using the Narcolepsy Symptom Status Questionnaire (NSSQ). The NSSQ-Total score decreased by 18% from 161.9 to 133.5 (p = 0.0019) over 8 weeks. Patients with narcolepsy experienced modest improvements in daytime sleepiness on an LCKD.