Diagnosis and treatment of epilepsy and sleep apnea comorbidity

ABSTRACT

Introduction: The comorbidity of epilepsy and sleep apnea is not uncommon. The diagnosis and treatment of obstructive sleep apneas will improve the prognosis and the quality of life in patients with epilepsy.

Areas covered: In this paper, the authors review the pathological link between sleep apnea and epilepsy and systematically analyze the current literature on the diagnosis and treatment of obstructive sleep apnea in patients with epilepsy. This review includes studies retrieved from the PubMed, Embase and Google Scholar databases.

Expert commentary: A variety of treatments are available for OSA and epilepsy independently but there are no standards or guidelines for how to implement these treatments for patients who suffer from both disorders. The authors expect that alternative efficient therapies for comorbidity will be explored, which may change the current clinical practice for the management of epileptic patients.

KEYWORDS:

• Epilepsy
• sleep apnea
• SUDEP
• CPAP
• drug therapy
• adenotonsillectomy

Declaration of interest

The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.

Additional information

Funding

This paper was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant number 81271445).