Sleep apnea and palatal myoclonus in a patient with neuro-Behçet syndrome.

A 50-year-old man with neuro-Behçet syndrome showed truncal imbalance, dementia, palatal myoclonus, snoring and rhythmic inspiration synchronized with palatal myoclonus. Magnetic resonance imaging showed hypertrophy of the bilateral inferior olivary nuclei with slight pontine atrophy. A polysomnographic recording disclosed sleep apnea during non-REM sleep: 6% central type, 46% mixed type, and 48% obstructive type. We speculate that lesions of the respiratory center or related structures in the brainstem resulted in sleep apnea and that laryngeal myoclonus also affected the apnea.