Effects of various drug therapies on Kleine–Levin syndrome: a case report

Abstract

Kleine–Levin syndrome (KLS) is a rare sleep disorder, predominantly affecting adolescent males, which presents as recurrent episodes of hypersomnia, behavioral and cognitive disturbances, hyperphagia and sometimes hypersexuality (Lisk, “Kleine–Levin syndrome.” Pract Neurol 2009;9:42–45). Modafinil has been reported to show an effect in shortening the duration of symptomatic periods, but does not affect the recurrence rate (Huang et al., “Kleine–Levin syndrome: current status.” Med Clin N Am 2010;94:557–562). However, no single drug therapy has been consistently successful, despite various psychotropic agents, including lithium, anticonvulsants and antidepressants, having been systematically tried (Arnulf et al., “Kleine–Levin syndrome: a systematic study of 108 patients.” Ann Neurol 2008;63:482–492). This study reports a male adolescent with KLS who received several courses of drug therapy, providing a chance to compare differential drug effects over time.