Abstract
Objective
This study aims to provide physicians with insights into the clinical manifestations and outcomes of children and young adolescents experiencing sleep terrors following SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Methods
We enrolled patients who developed new onset sleep terrors after SARS-CoV-2infection fromDecember2022to April 2023 in the Xijing hospital, Xi’an, China.
Results
We enrolled six patients who experienced sleep terrors following SARS-CoV-2 infection. Out of these patients, five were children and only one was an adolescent, with a mean age of 9 years. Neuroimaging results were negative for all cases. Sleep terrors occurred during both the active course of COVID-19 illness and the recovery period in all patients. Symptoms included crying or screaming in terror, hyperactivity, inappropriate behavior and periods of mental confusion during sleep. These episodes typically occurred 40 min to 1 h after falling asleep. EEG monitoring confirmed two patients’ episodes occurred during non-rapid eye movement (NREM) stage 3 sleep. The duration of sleep terrors ranged from 3mines to30 mines, with each patient experiencing 3–4 to 30–40 instances. Initially, the frequency of episodes was highest at 3–4 times per night, gradually decreasing to once a night, then once a week, until complete disappearance. No medical intervention was required. Clinical follow-up ranged from 6 to 12 months, with spontaneous remission occurring within 1 week to 2 months for different patients.
Conclusion
SARS-CoV-2 infection may precipitate acute sleep terrors in children and adolescents. The course of these sleep terrors is generally benign, with all patients achieving spontaneous complete remission over time.
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Data availability
The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the patients and their families for their support.
Funding
This study was funded by National Key R&D Program of China (2022YFC2503806).
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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the Xijing Hospital Research Ethics Committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study. The study was approved by Xijing Hospital Research Ethics Committee.
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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study. Additional informed consent was obtained from all individual participants for whom identifying information is included in this article.
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Supplementary file1 A videotape captured by the parent of patient 3 illustrates a typical event that the patient abruptly awakens from sleep, crying and screaming in terror. Concurrently, the patient displays hyperactivity, disorganized speech, inappropriate behavior and periods of mental confusion. This episode persisted for approximately 3 minutes. (MP4 9958 KB)
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Wang, X., Yuan, N., Zhu, J. et al. Fever-induced acute sleep terrors in children and adolescents following SARS-CoV-2 infection. Sleep Breath (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11325-024-03038-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11325-024-03038-9