Kleine-Levin Syndrome: A Case With EEG Evidence of Periodic Brain Dysfunction

THE Kleine-Levin syndrome, first described by Kleine¹ in 1925 and Levin² in 1929, is composed of recurring episodes of sleepiness lasting days, associated with excessive appetite and often with abnormal behavior. It usually affects male adolescents. It is rare; Sours³ did not find one case in reviewing 115 patients with excessive sleepiness who were evaluated at the Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center from 1932 to 1961. Critchley⁴ stated that only 26 acceptable cases had been reported up to 1962, including 11 personal cases. Since then several more cases have been reported.^5-11

The etiology of the Kleine-Levin syndrome is unknown. Laboratory investigations, including electroencephalographic studies have not revealed abnormalities of the cerebral functions examined.^{4,5,7,9,10,12-14} We describe the case of a patient with the Kleine-Levin syndrome who had markedly abnormal electroencephalogram findings only during episodes of hypersomnolence.

Report of a Case  A 19-year-old white male patient was