Involvement of legs and other body parts in patients with restless legs syndrome and its variants.

BACKGROUND

Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is characterized by the urge to move the legs accompanied by movement-responsive, abnormal sensations, which worsen at rest and night. We investigated the distribution of sensory symptoms and clinical correlations in patients with RLS and its variants.

METHODS

Eighty-nine patients diagnosed with RLS or RLS variants (age 61.4 ± 18.5 years 40 M/49 F) according to established criteria, with the exclusion of those with augmentation, were included in this study. The international RLS rating scale (IRLS) was used to assess the severity of RLS/RLS variant symptoms.

RESULTS

Eighty-three patients (93.3%) had RLS, and 6 patients (6.7%) had RLS variants. Among the patients with RLS and RLS variants, 33 patients (36.0%) reported restlessness involving other body parts: arms (16.9%) were the most frequent region, followed by the back (10.1%), abdomen (6.7%), and buttocks (4.5%). There were no between-group differences in clinical characteristics, except for the level of sleep disturbances being higher in patients with RLS variants (n=6) than in patients with RLS (n=83). No significant difference was observed in clinical characteristics including RLS severity and treatment between patients with RLS only (n=57) and patients with RLS with other body part involvement (n=26). No relationship was observed between the onset of symptoms in the legs and other body parts, but the IRLS scores for legs and other body parts were significantly correlated.

CONCLUSION

We should recognize that RLS can involve not only legs but also other body parts to varying degrees in each patient.