Episode 139: Sleep and Seizures: Emerging Insights From AAN 2025

Nancy Foldvary-Schaefer, DO, FAAN

Episode 139 of the NeurologyLive^® Mind Moments^® podcast is now live! Scroll down to listen or click here to subscribe on your favorite streaming service.

The Mind Moments podcast features exclusive interviews with leaders in the field discussing the latest research and disease management strategies across the breadth of neurology, including epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson disease, dementia, sleep disorders, and more.

In this episode, "Sleep and Seizures: Emerging Insights from AAN 2025," Nancy Foldvary-Schaefer, DO, director of the Sleep Disorders Center at Cleveland Clinic, reflected on key sleep-related topics presented at this year’s American Academy of Neurology (AAN) Annual Meeting. She highlighted the growing clinical interest in underrecognized conditions like idiopathic hypersomnia and narcolepsy, stressing the need for better awareness and earlier diagnosis. Foldvary-Schaefer also detailed the development of the Sleep by Cleveland Clinic mobile app, designed to improve screening for common sleep disorders with validated tools and real-time resources. Additionally, she discussed new findings on the prevalence of obstructive sleep apnea in adults with epilepsy, pointing to the importance of routine sleep screening in this population, regardless of seizure severity. Finally, she shared exploratory data on SSRI use and peri-ictal respiratory patterns in epilepsy, offering new perspectives on potential protective mechanisms tied to SUDEP risk.

The stories featured in this week's Neurology News Minute, which will give you quick updates on the following developments in neurology, are further detailed here:

• FDA Approves Pre-Filled Syringe Administration for FcRn Modulator Efgartigimod
• FDA Approves CT-132 as First Digital Therapeutic for Preventive Treatment of Episodic Migraine
• FDA Expands Diazepam Nasal Spray Indication to Treat Ages 2 to 5

EPISODE BREAKDOWN

• 1:00 – Key sleep topics discussed at AAN 2025 and the growing interest in hypersomnia
• 5:45 – Development and purpose of the SLEEP mobile app by Cleveland Clinic
• 10:35 – Findings on obstructive sleep apnea prevalence in adults with epilepsy
• 15:05 – Neurology News Minute
• 17:10 – The need for sleep disorder screening in epilepsy clinical trials
• 19:45 – Exploratory findings on SSRI use and respiratory patterns in patients with epilepsy

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