Clinical, polysomnographic, and genetic characteristics of restless legs syndrome: A study of 133 patients diagnosed with new standard criteria

✍ Scribed by Dr. Jacques Montplaisir; Sylvie Boucher; Gaétan Poirier; Gilles Lavigne; Odile Lapierre; Paul Lespérance

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1997
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 503 KB
• Volume: 12
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0885-3185
• DOI: 10.1002/mds.870120111

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

One hundred thirty‐three cases of restless legs syndrome (RLS), diagnosed with criteria recently formulated by an international study group, were studied by questionnaire and with all‐night polysomnographic recordings. Results show that RLS starts at a mean age of 27.2 years and before age 20 in 38.3% of patients. Symptoms often appear in one leg only and also involve upper limbs in about half of all cases. Most patients (94%) report sleep‐onset insomnia or numerous nocturnal awakenings due to RLS symptoms. A strong relationship was found between these complaints and polysomnographic findings; increasing sleep latency and number of awakenings and decreasing sleep efficiency were associated with worsening symptoms. Periodic leg movements in sleep (index > 5 movements/h sleep) were found in 80.2% of patients. This study shows that this percentage is increased when 2 recording nights are considered (most severe score). Eighty patients of 127 (63%) reported the presence of RLS in at least one of their first‐degree relatives. In these families, 221 of 568 first‐degree relatives (39%) were reported by the patients to be affected with RLS.