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Post‐stroke restless leg syndrome and periodic limb movements in sleep
Author(s) -
Woo H. G.,
Lee D.,
Hwang K. J.,
Ahn T.B.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
acta neurologica scandinavica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.967
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1600-0404
pISSN - 0001-6314
DOI - 10.1111/ane.12582
Subject(s) - restless legs syndrome , basal ganglia , medicine , corona radiata (embryology) , pons , lesion , stroke (engine) , neurological disorder , physical medicine and rehabilitation , central nervous system disease , surgery , neurology , central nervous system , mechanical engineering , psychiatry , ovarian follicle , hormone , engineering , cumulus oophorus
Objectives Primary restless leg syndrome (RLS) and periodic limb movements in sleep (PLMS) frequently co‐exist, obscuring the boundaries between the two conditions. In such instances, a study of secondary cases with focal lesions such as post‐stroke RLS and PLMS (psRLS and psPLMS, respectively) can be helpful in identifying characteristics of the individual conditions. Materials and Methods Patients who had suffered strokes and who subsequently developed psRLS or psPLMS were recruited. To determine the overall features of psRLS/PLMS, historical cases were selected from the literature. All cases with either psRLS or psPLMS alone were further analyzed to elucidate the distinctive pathomechanisms of the two conditions. Results Six patients with either psRLS or psPLMS were recruited from our hospital; two patients had both conditions contemporaneously. The literature contains details on 30 cases of psRLS or psPLMS. The causative lesion was most frequently located in the pons. We found that psRLS was more often bilateral, and usually detected later in time. Lesions in both the pontine base and tegmentum (together) were associated with unilateral psPLMS, whereas lesions in the corona radiata and adjacent basal ganglia were associated with bilateral RLS. Lesions confined to the corona radiata resulted in either unilateral or bilateral RLS. Conclusions The observed differences in the clinical and radiological features of psRLS and psPLMS suggest that the pathophysiologies of the two conditions are distinct. Further research is needed to understand the pathophysiologies of primary RLS and PLMS.