Abstract
The aim of this study is to report current clinical practice for sleep induction in Italian epilepsy centers. We administered an online-structured survey between March and November 2017 and collected data from pediatric and adult neurophysiologists belonging to 73 epilepsy centers. The preferred time for EEG recording is variable, depending on daily schedule of each laboratory. To facilitate spontaneous sleep during nap EEGs, almost all centers require sleep deprivation before the examination, with partial loss preferred to total deprivation in most centers (58/73 vs 12/73, p < 0.001). Other non-pharmacological procedures include breast/bottle feeding or listening to music (encouraged in most centers). Pharmacological sleep induction is performed in 40% of laboratories, more commonly in children than in adults (27/60 vs 7/42, p = 0.003). Melatonin is the most frequently prescribed drug to facilitate spontaneous sleep (one third of participating centers). Our study highlights the great heterogeneity among Italian epilepsy centers in current clinical practice for sleep EEG recordings. Expert consensus for sleep induction procedure is warranted.
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Acknowledgements
Contributors who compiled the survey and members of the Epilepsy Study Group of Italian Neurological Society, the Italian League Against Epilepsy, the Italian Pediatric Neurological Society are as follows: Irene Bagnasco, Ettore Beghi, Paolo Benna, Stefania Bergamoni, Graziella Bogliun, Mauro Budetta, Carlotta Canavese, Giuseppe Capovilla, Marco Carotenuto, Gianluca Casara, Daniela Cassano, Annalisa Colonna, Domenico Consoli, Duccio Maria Cordelli, Giuseppe D’Orsi, Anna De Benedittis, Fabrizio De Falco, Roberto De Simone, Giancarlo Di Gennaro, Elena Di Pietro, Marisa Elia, Maurizio Elia, Raffaele Falsaperla, Elisa Fiumana, Stefania Foderi, Elisabetta Gallinella, Antonio Gambardella, Paola Gambaro, Chiara Gentilomo, Anna Teresa Giallonardo, Francesco Guarino, Azzurra Guerra, Alfonso Iudice, Augusta Janes, Angela La Neve, Angelo Labate, Emilio Le Piane, Monica Lodi, Adriana Magaudda, Valentina Marchiani, Massimo Mastrangelo, Oriano Mecarelli, Stefano Meletti, Marta Meloni, Laura Mumoli, Francesco Nicita, Cristoforo Nocerino, Margherita Nosadini, Cecilia Nozzoli, Gian Andrea Ottonello, Alessandra Pagani, Maria Pandolfi, Lorenzo Pavone, Francesco Pisani, Laura Pisani, Alberto Primavera, Enrico Ravagnan, Erika Rebessi, Katia Rocchetti, Alfonso Romano, Sara Rossato, Lia Santulli, Domenico Serino, Michela Sesta, Sabrina Siliquini, Vito Sofia, Elisabetta Spadoni, Nicola Specchio, Orazio Spitaleri, Pasquale Striano, Laura Tassi, Federica Teutonico, Concetta Torrisi, Elisabetta Tozzi, Mariangela Tripodi, Marilena Vecchi, Maurizio Viri, Antonio Vitale, Roberta Vittorini, Gaetano Zaccara, and Raffaella Zannoli.
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Gasparini, S., Sueri, C., Ascoli, M. et al. Need for a standardized technique of nap EEG recordings: results of a national online survey in Italy. Neurol Sci 39, 1911–1915 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-018-3525-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-018-3525-9