A Medscape report provides the details of a case of a young adult patient with epilepsy who was treated with CPAP therapy and the subsequent outcomes.
After beginning CPAP therapy, the patient gradually experienced fewer and fewer seizures. Within about 2 months they had stopped altogether.
During a 10-year follow-up period, he remained seizure-free. Initially, we were not sure what role each of the treatments (CPAP therapy, VNS, and medications) played in his improvement. But when the VNS failed twice—the second time permanently—and the seizures did not recur, we concluded that the CPAP therapy had the most impact.
Eight years after beginning CPAP therapy, the patient returned to the Sleep Disorders Center with recurrent daytime sleepiness, but not seizures. In the sleep laboratory, we determined that he required a higher pressure from the CPAP machine (a common development for patients who have been on CPAP therapy for several years). After the pressure was increased, his sleepiness resolved.
This father of two can now drive a car, and he works full-time as a quality technician in the auto industry.
