Isolated cataplexy of more than 40 years' duration

Br J Psychiatry. 1991 Nov:159:719-21. doi: 10.1192/bjp.159.5.719.

Abstract

For over 40 years, a 55-year-old woman had suffered from cataplexy, which had been mistakenly identified as hysteria. Sleepiness, hypnagogic hallucinations and sleep-onset paralysis were not present. This is the longest duration of isolated cataplexy reported so far.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Cataplexy / diagnosis*
  • Cataplexy / drug therapy
  • Cataplexy / physiopathology
  • Cerebral Cortex / drug effects
  • Cerebral Cortex / physiopathology
  • Electroencephalography / drug effects
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Laughter / physiology
  • Methylphenidate / therapeutic use
  • Middle Aged
  • Reflex, Startle / physiology
  • Sleep Stages / drug effects
  • Sleep Stages / physiology

Substances

  • Methylphenidate