Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Jul 13:2:100012.
doi: 10.1016/j.sleepx.2020.100012. eCollection 2020 Dec.

Ondine's curse: myth meets reality

Zeferino Demartini  1   2 , Luana Antunes Maranha Gatto  2 , Gelson Luis Koppe  2 , Alexandre Novicki Francisco  2 , Enio Eduardo Guerios  1
Affiliations

Ondine's curse: myth meets reality

Zeferino Demartini et al. Sleep Med X. .

Abstract

Ondine's curse is one of the most enchanting mythical tales in the field of Medicine. The nymph Ondine was an immortal water spirit who became human after falling in love for a man, marrying him, and having a baby. In one of the versions of the tale, when she caught her husband sleeping with another woman, she cursed him to remain awake in order to control his own breathing. During the 19th century, the rare syndrome characterized by loss of autonomic breath control, while voluntary respiration remains intact, was cleverly named "Ondine's curse". Nowadays, the term Ondine's curse is usually associated with congenital central hypoventilation syndrome; however, in medical literature, it also designates several respiratory disorders. Here, we present a review of the myth focused on history, arts and medicine.

Keywords: Central sleep apnea; Hypoventilation; Infratentorial neoplasms; Postoperative complications; Sleep apnea syndromes; Sleep wake disorders.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest regarding the publication of this paper. The ICMJE Uniform Disclosure Form for Potential Conflicts of Interest associated with this article can be viewed by clicking on the following link: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleepx.2020.100012

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Sculpture titled “Undine Rising from the Waters” (1880) by Chauncey Bradley (1849–1917) [28] [from: https://artgallery.yale.edu/collections/objects/2729. Accessed March 4, 2019, with permission of Yale University Art Gallery].
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Painting titled “Hylas and the Nymphs” (1896) by John William Waterhouse (1849–1917) [31] [from: http://manchesterartgallery.org/collections/search/collection/?id=1896.15. Accessed June 1, 2019. Image courtesy of Manchester Art Gallery].
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Painting titled “In the Waves (Ondine)” (1889) by Paul Gauguin (1848–1903) [32] [from: http://www.clevelandart.org/art/1978.63. Accessed March 1, 2019, with permission of Cleveland Museum of Arts, Cleveland USA].
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Painting titled “Undine at the Window” (1915) by Arthur Rackham (1867–1939) [34] [from: https://artgallery.yale.edu/collections/objects/15548. Accessed March 4, 2019, with permission of Yale University Art Gallery].
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Severinghaus J.W., Mitchell R.A. Ondine's curse: failure of respiratory center automaticity while awake. Clin Res. 1962;10:122.
    1. Nannapaneni R., Behari S., Todd N.V. figRetracing "Ondine's curse". Neurosurgery. 2005;57(2):354–363. - PubMed
    1. de Pontual L., Népote V., Attié-Bitach T. Noradrenergic neuronal development is impaired by mutation of the proneural HASH-1 gene in congenital central hypoventilation syndrome (Ondine's curse) Hum Mol Genet. 2003;12:3173–3180. - PubMed
    1. Pedroso J.L., Baiense R.F., Scalzaretto A.P. Ondine's curse after brainstem infarction. Neurol India. 2009;57:206–207. - PubMed
    1. Zhu C., Li M., Xiao J. Case Report: ondine's curse syndrome secondary brainstem infarction. J Neurol Neurophysiol. 2018;9:459.