LAUSR

BACKGROUND Although sleep disturbances are highly prevalent in patients with Parkinson's disease, sleep macroarchitecture metrics show only minor changes. OBJECTIVE To assess alterations of the cyclic alternating pattern (CAP) as a critical feature of sleep microarchitecture in patients with prodromal, recent, and established Parkinson's disease. METHODS We evaluated overnight polysomnography for classic sleep macroarchitecture and CAP metrics in 68 patients at various disease stages and compared results to 22 age- and sex-matched controls. RESULTS Already at the prodromal stage, patients showed a significantly reduced CAP rate as a central characteristic of sleep microarchitecture. Temporal characteristics of CAP showed a gradual change over disease stages and correlated with motor performance. In contrast, the sleep macroarchitecture metrics did not differ between groups. CONCLUSION Data suggest that alterations of sleep microarchitecture are an early and more sensitive characteristic of Parkinson's disease than changes in sleep macroarchitecture.