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Skeletal muscle morphology in patients with restless legs syndrome
Britta Wåhlin Larsson1, Fawzi Kadi, Jan Ulfberg
1Department of Health and Social Sciences, Dalarna University, Falun, Sweden. bwl@du.se
Aim:
The aim of the study was to assess the cellular and structural properties of skeletal muscle in restless legs syndrome (RLS).
Method:
Twenty patients and 16 controls were included. Aerobic performance was assessed using a submaximal test. On muscle biopsies taken from the tibialis anterior, fiber distribution and fiber area were analyzed together with parameters surveying the microvascularization, especially the tortuosity, which is expressed as a percent of muscle fiber perimeter in contact with the wall of the microvessel, length of capillary/perimeter of fiber (LC/PF) index.
Results:
The RLS group had significantly lower predicted maximal oxygen uptake (p = 0.01) and significantly higher LC/PF index (p = 0.01) compared to the controls.
Conclusion:
The higher capillary tortuosity in RLS patients indicates the occurrence of significant remodeling in capillary geometry in RLS.
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