Alexander Breuss, Marco Strasser, Jean-Marc Nuoffer, Andrea Klein, Eveline Perret-Hoigné, Christine Felder, Ruth Stauffer, Peter Wolf, Robert Riener, Matthias Gautschi
Mitochondrial diseases are rare genetic disorders often accompanied by severe sleep disorders. We present the case of a 12-year-old boy diagnosed with a severe primary mitochondrial disease, exhibiting ataxia, spasticity, progressive external ophthalmoplegia, cardiomyopathy and severely disrupted sleep, but no cognitive impairment. Interestingly, his parents reported improved sleep during night train rides. Based on this observation, we installed a rocking bed in the patient's bedroom and performed different interventions, including immersive multimodal vestibular, kinesthetic and auditory stimuli, reminiscent of the sensory experiences encountered during train rides...
March 18, 2024: Journal of Sleep Research