Stroke-related restless legs syndrome: epidemiology, clinical characteristics, and pathophysiology

Xi-Xi Wang; Ya Feng; Eng-King Tan; William G Ondo; Yun-Cheng Wu

doi:10.1016/j.sleep.2022.02.001

Stroke-related restless legs syndrome: epidemiology, clinical characteristics, and pathophysiology

Sleep Med. 2022 Feb:90:238-248. doi: 10.1016/j.sleep.2022.02.001. Epub 2022 Feb 9.

Authors

Xi-Xi Wang¹, Ya Feng², Eng-King Tan³, William G Ondo⁴, Yun-Cheng Wu⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Neurology, Shanghai General Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210029, PR China; Department of Neurology, Shanghai General Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200080, PR China.
² Department of Neurology, Shanghai General Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200080, PR China.
³ Department of Neurology, National Neuroscience Institute, Singapore 169608, Singapore.
⁴ Department of Neurology, Methodist Hospital, Weill Cornell Medical School, Houston, TX, USA.
⁵ Department of Neurology, Shanghai General Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210029, PR China; Department of Neurology, Shanghai General Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200080, PR China. Electronic address: yunchw@medmail.com.cn.

PMID: 35219214
DOI: 10.1016/j.sleep.2022.02.001

Abstract

Stroke-related restless legs syndrome (RLS) is one of stroke-related sleep disorders, which may be due to de novo RLS after stroke onset or an exacerbation of RLS symptoms after incident stroke. To date, the diagnostic rate of stroke-related RLS is low but it has a significant effect on patients' daily life and functional outcome. This review provides an overview of the epidemiology, clinical characteristics, pathophysiology, and impact on functional outcome of stroke-related RLS.

Keywords: Anatomical considerations; Prevalence; Restless legs syndrome; Stroke.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Humans
Restless Legs Syndrome*
Sleep Wake Disorders* / epidemiology
Sleep Wake Disorders* / etiology
Stroke* / complications
Stroke* / epidemiology