Restless legs syndrome and Parkinson's disease
β Scribed by Stefano Calzetti; Anna Negrotti; Giuseppe Bonavina; Monica Angelini; Elena Marchesi
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 2010
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 38 KB
- Volume
- 25
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0885-3185
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
β¦ Synopsis
We were highly surprised on reading the recent article by Peralta et al., 1 in which an augmented prevalence of restless legs syndrome (RLS) in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) has been reported, without mentioning at all (and consequently having excluded) the well-established conditions causing secondary forms of the sensory-motor disorder, possibly occurring in the patients studied, and without including their own control population. This could have biased the results producing an overestimate of the frequency of assumed ''primary'' RLS in their patients, consequently corroborating the currently controversial issue of a significant comorbid association between the two disorders. Indeed, in our recently published survey 2 on 118 PD outpatients the exclusion of secondary causes of RLS, and therefore, only considering the assumed ''primary'' forms of the disorder, resulted in a further reduced statistically not significant frequency of RLS in PD patients. In addition, in our study, only a limited proportion of PD patients, that is, 30 of 118 (25.4%), presented with motor fluctuations such as levodopa (L-dopa) end-of-dose deterioration, and among them only one patient, that is, 3.3%, was found suffering from assumed ''primary'' RLS. In contrast, the finding that in the study by Peralta et al. 1 the majority of PD patients with RLS-like symptoms, that is 20 of 28 (71.4%), were presenting with L- dopa-related motor fluctuations or, conversely, that 28 of 75 patients, (37.3%) with motor fluctuations scored positive for RLS indicates that the occurrence of confounding conditions, that is, ''mimics'' of RLS, were particularly relevant in their population of PD patients. Therefore, the conclusion of the authors 1 that their study ''suggests that RLS-like symptoms are part of the sensory-motor spectrum of wearing-off in L- dopa treated PD'' only confirms the well-known notion that ''mimics'' of RLS may confound the detection of ''true'' RLS in these patients, making, in our opinion, the results of their study, as well as those of some others in which the presence of motor fluctuations has not been quoted 3,4 poorly reliable in supporting the comorbid association of PD and assumed ''primary'' RLS. Because of these considerations, it would have been preferable to have titled the paper by Peralta et al. 1 ''Restless Legs-like Syndrome in Parkinson's Disease.'' Financial Disclosures: The authors report no financial disclosure.
π SIMILAR VOLUMES
## Abstract The present study explores the frequency of RLS in PD and focuses on the clinical differences between patients with and without restless legs syndrome (RLS). A crossβsectional study was designed, comprising 114 patients diagnosed with PD. Those patients positive for RLS were assessed fo
## Abstract We aimed to investigate the prevalence of restless legs syndrome (RLS) according to essential diagnostic criteria, and to explore potential associations with clinical features, especially motor fluctuations, in a cohort of 113 patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD). Twentyβei
## Abstract Parkinson's disease (PD) and restless legs syndrome (RLS) have a dopaminergic link. More insight in the clinical profile of RLS in patients with PD may benefit our understanding of this link. The aims of this study were to evaluate the frequency and clinical profile of RLS in a large co
## Abstract Substantia nigra (SN) hyperechogenicity assessed by transcranial brain sonography (TCS) is a characteristic finding in idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD). In contrast, SN hypoechogenicity on TCS has been recently demonstrated in restless legs syndrome (RLS). RLS is one of the most comm
## Abstract Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a disorder of motor activity with a circadian pattern, occurring frequently in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). We sought to estimate the prevalence of RLS in Indian PD patients. One hundred twentyβsix consecutive PD patients and 128 healthy ageβ a