Complete recovery of restless legs syndrome after unilateral thalamic and tegmental infarction: A case report

Sensorimotor white matter projections and disease severity in primary Restless Legs Syndrome/Willis-Ekbom disease: a multimodal DTI analysis

BACKGROUND

Restless Legs Syndrome, a potentially disabling sleep disorder, also known as Willis-Ekbom disease (RLS/WED), may be caused by loss of inhibitory modulation of descending central motor pathways, structural changes in the somatosensory cortex, abnormal connectivity between motor and sensory areas, as well as by subtle abnormalities in white matter micro-organization.

OBJECTIVE

To compare diffusion-tensor imaging (DTI) metrics in areas associated with sensory or motor function, as well as sensorimotor integration, between subjects with primary mild-to-severe RLS/WED and controls.

METHODS

DTI metrics were assessed in 38 subjects with RLS/WED (14 mild to moderate, 24 severe to very severe) and 24 healthy age-matched controls with whole-brain Tract Based Spatial Statistics (TBSS), Region-of-interest (ROI) and probabilistic tractography based analyses. The ROIs corresponded to the corticospinal tract (CST) at the level of the cerebral peduncle; the superior, middle and inferior cerebellar peduncles. Subgroup analyses were made according to the severity of RLS/WED symptoms. The corticospinal tract was evaluated with probabilistic tractography. We also explored associations between significant findings and severity of symptoms with the Spearman's correlation coefficient.

RESULTS

TBSS analysis revealed decreased axial diffusivity (AD) in the left posterior thalamic radiation in RLS/WED. In subjects with severe RLS/WED, AD was reduced in the left posterior corona radiata and this reduction was negatively correlated with severity of symptoms. ROI-based analysis showed that radial diffusivity (RD) was increased in the superior cerebellar peduncles of individuals with severe RLS/WED. Tractography did not show between-group or subgroup differences.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results are consistent with subtle white matter changes, prominently in RLS/WED subjects with more severe symptoms, in areas related to sensory or motor function, as well as to sensorimotor integration, compared to controls. These findings support the hypothesis, raised by prior pathophysiological studies, of defective integration within these networks.

Acute-onset Restless legs syndrome in acute neurological conditions-a prospective study on patients with the Guillain-Barre syndrome and acute stroke

OBJECTIVES

While the Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is usually recognized as a chronic condition, it has often been diagnosed among patients with acute neurological illnesses, in which limb discomfort is reported. This study was conducted to determine how many among these, actually have acute-onset RLS, and also to evaluate characteristics of this subgroup of patients with Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) and stroke developing acute-onset RLS.

METHODS

Consecutive patients diagnosed with GBS and eligible stroke patients, admitted to our Neurology services over a 1-year period, were enrolled. They were evaluated for symptoms of RLS based on IRLSSG consensus criteria and the AIIMS RLS Questionnaire for Indian patients (ARQIP).

RESULTS

Forty adults with GBS and 58 with stroke were included. A total of 10 of the 40 (25%) patients with GBS developed definite acute RLS, which was mostly monophasic. Seven (70%) of these had demyelinating type of GBS, a significant association with acute RLS (P = .024). Six of the 58 stroke patients (10%) developed definite acute-onset, often persistent RLS. Subcortical location showed significant association with increased risk of developing acute RLS (P < .001). All patients diagnosed with acute-onset RLS had an immediate and good response to dopamine agonists.

CONCLUSION

This is the first study showing that acute-onset RLS is common, affecting nearly 25% of patients with GBS and 10% patients with acute stroke. Recognizing and treating it can majorly contribute toward symptom relief and early improvement in the quality of life for this population.