Kleine-Levin syndrome: history and brief review.

Episodic hypersomnia, compulsive excessive eating and erotic behaviour, with schizophrenic-like mental symptoms are the hallmarks of the rare Kleine-Levin syndrome. This paper traces the origins of its description back to the 18th century and the changing concepts of its complex organic-psychogenic aetiology. The eventual, spontaneous disappearance of the syndrome is unexplained.