The video images of sleep attacks in Parkinson's disease.

ABSTRACT

We describe a sleep attack, which was induced by taking excessive levodopa and pergolide, in a 73-year-old woman with Parkinson's disease. At the onset of the sleep attack, her head suddenly sagged and sometimes hit the table, but she did not notice these symptoms. Her family noticed that this sleep attack occurred when she began to speak slowly. Her family recorded this attack with a video camera. This sleep attack resolved with control of her medication. This is the first report of video images of a sleep attack due to excessive levodopa and a dopamine agonist.