Iron deficiency anemia in infancy exerts long-term effects on the tibialis anterior motor activity during sleep in childhood.

OBJECTIVES

To explore the eventual connection between iron deficiency anemia (IDA) in infancy and altered leg movements during sleep in a 10-year follow-up study in children who did or did not have IDA in infancy.

SUBJECTS AND METHODS

Polysomnographic studies were performed in 32 10-year-old children (13 females and 19 males) who had IDA in infancy and 26 peers (10 females and 16 males) who were nonanemic controls. The time structure of their polysomnographically recorded leg movements (LM) was analyzed by means of an approach particularly able to consider their quantity, periodicity, and distribution during the night.

RESULTS

All LM indexes and those related to periodic LM during sleep (PLMS) were slightly higher in the former IDA group than in the control group, but not always significant. The Periodicity index during NREM sleep was higher and was reflected by a small but significant increase in PLMS separated by 10-50s intervals. PLMS index tended to be higher in former IDA children than in controls throughout the whole night.

CONCLUSION

The association between IDA in infancy, despite iron therapy, and PLMS in childhood could lead to new research in this area. Indeed, transient infantile IDA, a common nutritional problem among human infants, may turn out to be important for understanding the mechanisms of PLMS or restless legs syndrome, which are common in adulthood.