Introduction

摘要

Disruptions of sleep and arousal mechanisms are common in childhood neurologic disorders, affecting close to a third of the population served by pediatric neurologists. The spectrum ranges from disorders of respiratory control, parasomnias, and sleep-related epilepsy to primary and secondary forms of insomnia and hypersomnia.When child neurologists incorporate a history of sleep function into the overall clinical assessment of their patients, they usually end up unearthing potentially treatable health conditions. Patients with epilepsy and migraine benefit from tips on sleep hygiene, whereas those with daytime inattention and hyperactivity benefit from treatment of underlying obstructive sleep apnea or restless legs syndrome; the adolescent who appears psychologically depressed may actually turn out to have an underlying circadian rhythm sleep disturbance. These are just some common examples that highlight the importance of sleep medicine to child neurology.