Diagnosing Kleine-Levin Syndrome

Diagnosing KLS is admittedly a challenge but can be a relief for a family in search of answers. Because its primary symptom, hypersomnia, is common to a number of disorders, the process by which we diagnose KLS is one of exclusion – ruling out other conditions that share symptoms. As a result, potential KLS patients often will undergo a lot of tests in various specialties: for metabolic problems including diabetes, metabolic encephalopathies and hypothyroidism; an MRI to rule out a lesion, tumor or inflammation as the cause; even for multiple sclerosis, which has aspects that can mimic the symptoms of KLS.

The symptoms of KLS – somnolence, hyperphagia and withdrawal – can mimic those of severe depression, sometimes followed by a brief period of high, manic energy that could lead to a misdiagnosis of bipolar disorder. Because of all these variables, all other possibilities need to be ruled out, and the symptoms must still fit with those commonly observed in KLS patients.