Restless legs syndrome in patients with sequelae of poliomyelitis

No studies have examined the association between RLS and the sequelae of poliomyelitis (PM). We studied the frequency and severity of RLS in a group of consecutive patients with the sequelae of poliomyelitis (PM) and the effect of treatment with dopaminergic drugs.

A diagnosis of RLS was made according to the criteria of the International RLS Study Group, and severity was assessed by the RLS rating scale. Information on sex, age, age at onset, site affected by PM, disease duration of PM, and history of post-polio syndrome (pPS) was obtained in a cohort of 52 PM patients.

The mean age was 55.9 ± 6.5 years; 39 patients had post-polio syndrome (75%). RLS was diagnosed in 21 (40.4%) patients. Sixteen of the 21 patients (76.2%) with RLS had pPS, which was similar to the non-RLS group (74.2% patients with pPS). RLS symptoms were very severe in 5 patients, severe in 13, moderate in 2 and mild in 1. Nineteen of the 21 patients with RLS had symptoms predominantly in the more affected lower limb (90% of patients). Sixteen patients received dopaminergic agonist treatment with a significant reduction in their scores on the RLS severity scale from 28.3 ± 4.7 to 6.9 ± 7.3 (p < 0.001).

RLS occurs frequently in patients with PM, both in those with and without pPS, and responds well to treatment with dopaminergic drugs.