Abstract
Choking during sleep may be caused by various respiratory and non-respiratory problems. We aimed at documenting a new, rare cause of hallucinatory choking. We documented the clinical and video-polysomnographic features of 11 adult patients referred for swallowing and choking during sleep. We conducted a systematic search for similar sensations in 68 consecutive adult patients with sleepwalking/sleep terrors and in 37 patients with obstructive sleep apnea. The 11 patients with sleep-related swallowing and choking were all current or former sleepwalkers. The symptoms occurred during the first third of the night. The patients consistently reported a frequent hallucinatory feeling of swallowing an unusual object (ring, nails, pebble, chewing gum, spoon, fork, electrical cables, lizard tail, needles, brush, computer, or gas container) that blocked the upper airways during sleep, followed by attempts to unblock them by spitting or swallowing water. When monitored, the choking sensations were not stereotypic, and occurred exclusively during arousals from N3 sleep, despite normal airway patency and absence of epileptic activity. The patients demonstrated simultaneous intense adrenergic stimulation and emotional distress. Of the 68 slee...Continue Reading
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Sep 24, 2015·Sleep Medicine·Michele Terzaghi, Raffaele Manni
Jul 18, 2018·Sleep·Mathilde FlamandWilliam Szurhaj
Jun 29, 2021·Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine : JCSM : Official Publication of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine·Giuseppe LoddoFederica Provini