PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Christopher P Derry TI - Sleeping in fits and starts: a practical guide to distinguishing nocturnal epilepsy from sleep disorders AID - 10.1136/practneurol-2014-000890 DP - 2014 Dec 01 TA - Practical Neurology PG - 391--398 VI - 14 IP - 6 4099 - http://pn.bmj.com/content/14/6/391.short 4100 - http://pn.bmj.com/content/14/6/391.full SO - Pract Neurol2014 Dec 01; 14 AB - Accurately diagnosing sleep-related events, and particularly distinguishing nocturnal frontal lobe seizures from other sleep disorders such as parasomnias, can be challenging. This article reviews the differential diagnosis of paroxysmal events from sleep, epileptic and non-epileptic, considers important diagnostic points in the history, and evaluates the role of investigations in this setting.