Objective: Several etiological factors such as genetic factors, pregnancy, infections, lymphoma and head trauma have been thought to play a role in the etiology of narcolepsy. In this study, we aimed to investigate the prevalence of head trauma in patients diagnosed with narcolepsy.
Method: The diagnosis of narcolepsy was made at sleep laboratory of a university hospital by polysomnographic studies (PSG) and multiple sleep latency (MSLT) tests. A form was filled with patients to determine the frequency of head trauma in their medical history.
Results: A total of 45 patients were included in the study. 17 patients had a history of head trauma previously. This ratio was greater than normal population and was statistically significant (p<0.05).
Conclusion: It was shown that damage occurs at hypocretin neurons after traumatic brain injury and decreased CSF hypocretin levels may cause narcolepsy. The results of this study confirm the previous findings in the literature.