This article requires a subscription to view the full text. If you have a subscription you may use the login form below to view the article. Access to this article can also be purchased.
Abstract
Background: We previously studied the occurrence of muscle tone reduction (MTR), sawtooth waves (STW), and REM in sleep, and found a stereotypical sequence of these events in normal subjects. Patients with the postpolio syndrome may have involvement of the reticular formation in the brainstem, an area known to mediate initiation of REM sleep. We hypothesized that such brainstem pathology might affect the stereotyped sequence of events initiating REM sleep.
Methods: We measured the latencies to the onsets of the first MTR, the first STW, and the first REM in 13 patients with postpolio syndrome, 7 of whom had bulbar involvement. All latencies were calculated from the last body movement before the onset of REM sleep.
Results: Using analysis of variance, we found highly significant differences among the overall mean latencies of the three types of onset (MTR, STW, REM) and also between the mean latencies of the two subgroups of patients (bulbar, nonbulbar). Although the latencies for the entire group were longer than those of the normal volunteers, the differences were not significant. However, when the bulbar and nonbulbar groups were compared, analysis of variance showed significantly longer latencies for the bulbar group than for the nonbulbar group (p < 0.0001). The values for the nonbulbar patients closely resembled those for the normal controls. Although the latencies differed, the slopes of the regressions of REM on STW, STW on MTR, and REM on MTR resembled each other closely (p = 0.924).
Conclusion: Prolongation of these latencies may be due to prolonged recruitment time for neurons in the pontine tegmentum, following damage from polio. This may be a sensitive marker of a brainstem lesion, and may also represent a type of sleep pathology not previously explored.
- Received July 14, 1998.
- Accepted October 24, 1998.
AAN Members
We have changed the login procedure to improve access between AAN.com and the Neurology journals. If you are experiencing issues, please log out of AAN.com and clear history and cookies. (For instructions by browser, please click the instruction pages below). After clearing, choose preferred Journal and select login for AAN Members. You will be redirected to a login page where you can log in with your AAN ID number and password. When you are returned to the Journal, your name should appear at the top right of the page.
AAN Non-Member Subscribers
Purchase access
Letters: Rapid online correspondence
REQUIREMENTS
You must ensure that your Disclosures have been updated within the previous six months. Please go to our Submission Site to add or update your Disclosure information.
Your co-authors must send a completed Publishing Agreement Form to Neurology Staff (not necessary for the lead/corresponding author as the form below will suffice) before you upload your comment.
If you are responding to a comment that was written about an article you originally authored:
You (and co-authors) do not need to fill out forms or check disclosures as author forms are still valid
and apply to letter.
Submission specifications:
- Submissions must be < 200 words with < 5 references. Reference 1 must be the article on which you are commenting.
- Submissions should not have more than 5 authors. (Exception: original author replies can include all original authors of the article)
- Submit only on articles published within 6 months of issue date.
- Do not be redundant. Read any comments already posted on the article prior to submission.
- Submitted comments are subject to editing and editor review prior to posting.
You May Also be Interested in
Hastening the Diagnosis of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
Dr. Brian Callaghan and Dr. Kellen Quigg