NIGHT TERRORS IN AN ADULT PRECIPITATED BY SLEEP-APNEA

Parasomnias are generally described as disorders of arousal that arise out of stage 3 and 4 nonrapid eye movement (NREM) sleep without ident ifiable cause. We present a case of a 35-year-old man who during nasal continuous positive airway pressure (nCPAP) treatment for severe obst ructive sleep apnea experienced an intense night terror triggered by a residual obstructive apnea during rebound deep sleep. The role of reb ound deep sleep was thought to be essential in creating a state of sle ep with a high arousal threshold hypothesized to be important for the occurrence of parasomnias. This case supports the clinical wisdom that identifiable sources of arousal can trigger parasomnias.