Children (Sep 2022)

Secondary Narcolepsy as Worsening Sign in a Pediatric Case of Optic Pathway Glioma

  • Beatrice Laus,
  • Anna Maria Caroleo,
  • Giovanna Stefania Colafati,
  • Andrea Carai,
  • Romina Moavero,
  • Michela Ada Noris Ferilli,
  • Massimiliano Valeriani,
  • Angela Mastronuzzi,
  • Antonella Cacchione

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/children9101455
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 9, no. 10
p. 1455

Abstract

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Narcolepsy, a neurologic disorder that leads to excessive daytime sleepiness, may represent a rare consequence of neoplastic lesions involving the sellar/parasellar and hypothalamic regions, the anatomical areas responsible for wakefulness. Optic pathway gliomas represent the most common neoplasm of these regions and present an excellent overall survival, while long-term neurologic impairments, such as visual loss, endocrinopathies, or sleep disorders, are the principal causes of morbidity. In this case report, we describe a non-NF1 patient suffering from a very extensive optical pathway glioma, who several years after the diagnosis in a radiological condition of stable disease, presented with severe narcolepsy, a rare complication, that led to the death of the patient.

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