Abstract
Twenty patients who had suffered missile head injuries (MHI) during the Lebanese War were separated into three groups, based on clinical criteria. All the patients were monitored polysomnographically (PSG) 3 and 12 months after the injury. The records were double-blind scored. The clinical and PSG data were compared, and discrepancies were found between the clinical and PSG evaluation of sleep in MHI patients. Sleep disturbance is not an obligatory feature of MHI patients. MHI associated with hypersomnia was found to have a good prognosis. Insomnia is usually associated with long coma and severe diffuse brain lesions in MHI patients and has a much more severe prognosis than hypersomnia in these patients.
