The European Neurological Network database and sleep atlas

An international classification of sleep disorders has been established with definitions for 88 distinct sleep disorders in 1990, and the revised form was presented in 1997. The European Neurological Network (ENN) was set up in order to close the gap of knowledge between primary care physicians and sleep experts. The ENN database and sleep atlas were created within the framework of this network to support this goal. A collection of documented patient case stories with explanations of diagnoses and procedures, with images and video clips and with full night biosignal recordings, serves as an interactive teaching atlas for sleep disorders. This tutorial has been implemented on a set of four CD-ROMs. A subset of the multimedia sleep atlas and database was installed on a dedicated password protected server on the Internet to promote education in sleep medicine to all interested physicians. This article discusses the building of the database and atlas and also presents a case example.