[Six months treatment of restless legs syndrome with levodopa/benserazide in domiciliary practice]

Restless legs syndrome is a common neurological condition with 2-10% prevalence in the general population. Patients suffer from uncomfortable or unpleasant sensations in legs or arms and motor restlessness with a compelling desire to move the extremities. The symptoms worsen at rest with at least temporary relief by activity but also later in the day and in the evening. Dopaminergic drugs are considered to be the first choice in therapy, however, only levodopa/benserazide is approved until now. In this six months observational study, eighty patients with diagnosed RLS were treated with levodopa/ benserazide. The RLS symptoms improved in 90%, 77.5% of the patients continued with the treatment after the end of the study. Levodopa/Benserazide proved to be efficacious independently of severity of RLS and was well tolerated in long-term therapy.