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Single Patient Multiple Explosions: A Case Report on Exploding Head Syndrome

Exploding head syndrome (EHS) is an uncommon sleeping disorder that is described by patients as a loud noise occurring while transitioning into and out of sleep. It is not accompanied by a headache but causes a sense of fright. We describe the case of a 58-year-old female patient, presenting with a...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Alkhateeb, Wasef, Krishnaraj, Abhinaya, Saini, Vishal
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Cureus 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10543998/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37791153
http://dx.doi.org/10.7759/cureus.44437
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author Alkhateeb, Wasef
Krishnaraj, Abhinaya
Saini, Vishal
author_facet Alkhateeb, Wasef
Krishnaraj, Abhinaya
Saini, Vishal
author_sort Alkhateeb, Wasef
collection PubMed
description Exploding head syndrome (EHS) is an uncommon sleeping disorder that is described by patients as a loud noise occurring while transitioning into and out of sleep. It is not accompanied by a headache but causes a sense of fright. We describe the case of a 58-year-old female patient, presenting with a total of 11 events of EHS occurring at bedtime. Events shared some features but also had unique characteristics. The workup was negative, making a diagnosis of EHS more likely. CPAP was recommended for a newly diagnosed obstructive sleep apnea, but despite non-compliance with the treatment plan, the patient had a complete resolution of her symptoms. Exploding head syndrome is an underreported parasomnia reported in the literature. Our case report demonstrates that a single patient could exhibit different features in displaying EHS, which was shown by changes in the noise description, pattern, and accompanying jerk movement. It also hints at patient education and reassurance as a possible treatment plan.
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spelling pubmed-105439982023-10-03 Single Patient Multiple Explosions: A Case Report on Exploding Head Syndrome Alkhateeb, Wasef Krishnaraj, Abhinaya Saini, Vishal Cureus Internal Medicine Exploding head syndrome (EHS) is an uncommon sleeping disorder that is described by patients as a loud noise occurring while transitioning into and out of sleep. It is not accompanied by a headache but causes a sense of fright. We describe the case of a 58-year-old female patient, presenting with a total of 11 events of EHS occurring at bedtime. Events shared some features but also had unique characteristics. The workup was negative, making a diagnosis of EHS more likely. CPAP was recommended for a newly diagnosed obstructive sleep apnea, but despite non-compliance with the treatment plan, the patient had a complete resolution of her symptoms. Exploding head syndrome is an underreported parasomnia reported in the literature. Our case report demonstrates that a single patient could exhibit different features in displaying EHS, which was shown by changes in the noise description, pattern, and accompanying jerk movement. It also hints at patient education and reassurance as a possible treatment plan. Cureus 2023-08-31 /pmc/articles/PMC10543998/ /pubmed/37791153 http://dx.doi.org/10.7759/cureus.44437 Text en Copyright © 2023, Alkhateeb et al. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Internal Medicine
Alkhateeb, Wasef
Krishnaraj, Abhinaya
Saini, Vishal
Single Patient Multiple Explosions: A Case Report on Exploding Head Syndrome
title Single Patient Multiple Explosions: A Case Report on Exploding Head Syndrome
title_full Single Patient Multiple Explosions: A Case Report on Exploding Head Syndrome
title_fullStr Single Patient Multiple Explosions: A Case Report on Exploding Head Syndrome
title_full_unstemmed Single Patient Multiple Explosions: A Case Report on Exploding Head Syndrome
title_short Single Patient Multiple Explosions: A Case Report on Exploding Head Syndrome
title_sort single patient multiple explosions: a case report on exploding head syndrome
topic Internal Medicine
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10543998/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37791153
http://dx.doi.org/10.7759/cureus.44437
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