Desmopressin Melt: Impact on Sleep and Daytime Functioning

Plain-language summary

Nocturnal enuresis affects 10% of the 7-year-old children and is essentially caused by a mismatch between nocturnal bladder capacity and the amount of urine produced during the night together with failure of the child to awaken in response to a full bladder.Urine overproduction at night or nocturnal polyuria (NP) is a major factor contributing to monosymptomatic nocturnal enuresis (MNE) pathophysiology in a large proportion of patients. Since NP is related to an abnormal circadian rhythm of arginine vasopressin (AVP) secretion, the synthetic AVP analogue desmopressin is widely used to treat MNE. It is recommended by the International Consultation on Incontinence (grade A,level 1). Desmopressin is available in 3 different formulations: nasal spray, tablet and the newest form melt. Baeyens et al demonstrated an increased prevalence of attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children with MNE According to recent data there is a high incidence of periodic limb movements in sleep at night in children with nocturnal enuresis. Those children have an increased cortical arousability leading to awakening. The frequent awakening most likely has an influence on concentration and other ADHD-symptoms in daily life. This study will assess the impact of desmopressin melt on prepulse inhibition, ADHD-symptoms, cognition and learning, sleep, quality of life and self esteem. New patients aged 6-16 years with monosymptomatic nocturnal enuresis, nocturnal polyuria and sleep problems are tested before the start of the study medication desmopressin melt (T1) and 6 months later (T2). It is a multi-method, multi-informant study.

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