What does sleep medicine offer?

The Center for Sleep Medicine in Kempenhaeghe offers highly specialized diagnosis, treatment and support to people with complex sleeping disorders. The center has the largest multidisciplinary team of somnologists and somno-technologists in the Netherlands.

The expertise encompasses the full width of sleep medicine. In-house we offer the disciplines neurology, pulmonary medicine, pediatrics, psychiatry and psychology. Thanks to our multidisciplinary approach, extra facilities and labor-intensive customization we can help your patient to get a grip on his complex sleeping disorder. We like to share our findings with you. If possible, we refer your patient back to you, following the diagnosis and the possible start of the treatment.

Whom to refer?

Most hospitals lack the facilities and multidisciplinary know-how required for patients with rare or hard to treat sleeping disorders. It is often impossible to adequately take up the diagnosis and treatment of this group of people.

The Center for Sleep Medicine offers extra facilities and expertise for patients with complex sleeping problems. For instance:

• Patients with multiple sleeping disorders or a comorbide sleeping disorder
  For these patients the sleeping disorder does not stand on its own. Sometimes the sleeping disorder may be the result of another disorder or illness. The disorder or illness and the sleeping disorder influence one another. But we also see patients who suffer from a combination of sleeping disorders. This complicates the diagnosis and treatment and may require extra support.

• Patients with rare sleeping disorders
  Patients with rare disorders require customized care more than others. The concentration of such patients in a center like ours facilitates the development of expertise and improves the result for the patient.

• People with an intellectual disability and children
  Some patients require personalized treatment and support, such as young children or people with an intellectual disability. Among this group, sleeping disorders manifest themselves differently than among normally gifted adults.

Focus areas

The products of the Center for Sleep Medicine are divided into three focus areas: breathing-dependent sleeping disorders, neurological sleeping disorders and insomnia and circadian rhythm disorders.

Breathing-dependent sleeping disorders

Second-line care for adult patients with sleep apnea generally speaking suffices for most of the patients. For part of them the diagnosis and/or treatment is unsatisfactory for the treating physician or the patient. In these cases, the Center for Sleep Medicine has a national third-line function, offering added value in clarifying the sleeping problems and/or improving the therapeutic result. Our care is focused on this.

Partly thanks to the better recognition of symptoms and also because of the increase of obesity, the need for care for children with sleep apnea is growing. But also for respiratory sleep care for people with an intellectual disability our expertise and facilities are unique in the Netherlands.

Neurological sleeping disorders

The NFU accredited the Center for Sleep Medicine for rare sleeping disorders (orphan diseases) in adults and children. Examples are narcolepsy and the Kleine-Levin syndrome.

We focus on the care for patients with rare and/or complex neurological sleeping disorders whose diagnostic and treatment experience in the first and second line is unsatisfactory, for instance because facilities and expertise are unavailable.

We also offer specific know-how of the treatment of sleeping disorders in patients with neurological disorders, such as Parkinson’s disease, parasomnia and sleep-related movement disorders.

In children, neurological sleeping disorders range from primary neurological sleeping disorders up to and including disorders with complex comorbidities including epilepsy and developmental problems. Certain neurological sleeping disorders are rarer in children than in adults. For this reason, the concentration of know-how is important. In addition, the diagnosis of neurological sleeping disorders in children often requires an adaptation of measuring methods and (extra) support in care. This also goes for adults with an intellectual disability.

Insomnia and circadian rhythm disorders

Chronic insomnia is defined as a combination of sleeplessness and dysfunctional complaints that manifest themselves during the day. As a standard, the symptoms must occur at least three times per week during at least three months. As a center with a third-line function, the Center for Sleep Medicine focuses on patients with comorbide insomnia. There is an interaction between insomnia and other organic sleeping disorders, somatic disorders and/or psychiatric disorders that (partly) sustain the insomnia.

The golden standard in the treatment of chronic insomnia is cognitive behavioral therapy (CGT-i) see the European Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Insomnia - Journal of Sleep Research 2017. Kempenhaeghe was trailbreaker in the introduction of this therapy in the Netherlands and is continuously working on the further development of CGT-1. CGT-i is offered in group sessions and – if indicated – individually.

For a detailed description of our care products please check our portfolio.

Portfolio overview

Portfolio supplement

Consultation first?

Do you have questions or would you like to consult one of our somnologists?

You may contact us via +31 40 227 90 22 (Kempenhaeghe Heeze) or +31 162 481 800 (Kempenhaeghe, location Hans Berger Kliniek Oosterhout). Please ask for the secretariat of the outpatient clinic sleep medicine.

Outside office hours or in case of emergency, please ask for the neurologist on duty.

Together for the best care

Sleeping disorders is a relatively young subject in medicine. In addition to increasing our know-how through scientific research, we also value cooperation in patient care.

For patients with breathing-dependent sleeping disorders we work together with Maastricht UMC+ and CIRO, expertise center for chronic organ failures in the Academic Network Sleep Medicine. With regard to Parkinson’s disease and sleeping problems we work closely together with the Radboudumc. And to be able to deal with the large flow of patients with chronic insomnia, we take the lead in the education of first-line care providers.