Objective To summarize and analyze the clinical and video-EEG (VEEG) characteristics of adult sleep-related epilepsy, so as to provide evidence for clinical diagnosis, differential diagnosis and treatment. Methods The clinical data, routine EEG and long-term VEEG of 187 adult patients with sleep-related epilepsy treated in Department of Neurology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University from January 2017 to December 2017 were retrospectively analyzed by χ2 test. Results Clinical manifestations: The duration of sleep-related epilepsy in 187 adults was concentrated in 1～10 years (101 cases, 54.01%); the frequency of seizures was mainly from several to dozens of times a year (99 cases, 52.94%); 119 cases (63.64%) had two or more types of seizures. Among the patients, 121 cases (39.29%) had focal origin, 152 cases (49.35%) had bilateral tonic clonus and 110 cases (58.82%) were treated with two or more drugs. EEG results: ① The detection rate of epileptiform discharges in routine EEG was 22.78%, and that in long-term video EEG was 80.43%. There was significant difference between the two methods (P< 0.01); ② Eighteen epileptiform discharges were monitored by routine EEG during interparoxysmal period and 111 epileptiform discharges were monitored by video EEG; and ③ Fifty-six epileptic events were monitored and all occurred in the process of long-term VEEG monitoring, 50 of them occurred in sleep (89.29%) and 6 in awake (10.71%); 45 cases (80.36%) were diagnosed as epileptic seizures, 9 cases (16.07%) were diagnosed as non-epileptic seizures, and 2 cases (3.57%) could not be determined. ④ The detection rate of epileptic discharges during sleep was higher than that during awake period in long-term VEEG monitoring (P< 0.01). The detection rate of epileptiform discharges in NREM stage I–II was the highest in sleep stage. Conclusion Sleep-related epilepsy in adults has certain clinical features and EEG manifestations. Compared with conventional EEG, long-term video-EEG can improve the detection rate of epileptiform discharges, provide diagnostic basis for the qualitative analysis of sleep-related seizures, and reflect the relationship between epileptiform discharges and sleep, and provide basis for the clinical diagnosis and treatment of sleep-related epilepsy in adults.