Internal medicine journal
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Internal medicine journal · Apr 2022
Case ReportsCan insomnia be fatal? An Australian case of fatal familial insomnia.
Fatal familial insomnia (FFI) is a rare prion disease with autosomal dominant inheritance. Currently, there is only one published case study of FFI in Australia. ⋯ Clinically, it manifests with disordered sleep-wake cycle, dysautonomia, motor disturbances and neuropsychiatric disorders. We describe a case of FFI detailing the investigative process, including the importance of sleep assessment and polysomnography in obtaining a diagnosis.
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Blackwater fever is a haemolytic syndrome associated with malaria that coincided with the use of quinine chemoprophylaxis. Once quinine was no longer chronically used to prevent malaria, blackwater fever largely disappeared and its aetiology remains poorly understood. Blackwater fever is representative of classical tropical medicine and its history was reflected in Australia's colonial development of Papua New Guinea particularly as reported in the Australian medical literature.