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Updated: Mar 24, 2026

Implantation of Combined Telemetric ECG and Blood Pressure Transmitters to Determine Spontaneous Baroreflex Sensitivity in Conscious Mice
Published on: February 14, 2021
Nocturnal systolic blood pressure is increased in restless legs syndrome
Mariusz Sieminski1, Markku Partinen2
1Department of Adults' Neurology, Medical University of Gdansk, Debinki 7, 80-210, Gdansk, Poland. msiem@wp.pl.
Purpose:
Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a frequent sensorimotor disorder characterized by an urge to move the legs, with symptoms appearing during the night and disturbing nocturnal sleep. There is a growing body of evidence that RLS correlates with an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases and hypertension. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that patients with RLS have higher blood pressure (BP) during the night than people without RLS.
Methods:
We have analyzed polysomnographic (PSG) recordings of 30 patients with RLS and 27 subjects without the sleep disorder. During PSG, beat-to-beat BP measurement was performed.
Results:
Patients with RLS have higher nocturnal and sleep-time systolic blood pressure compared to controls (124.4 vs. 116.5 mmHg, p < 0.05; 123.5 vs. 116.1 mmHg, p < 0.05). There was no noticeable dip in the values of nocturnal systolic pressure of patients with RLS.
Conclusions:
Our results support the hypothesis that RLS and hypertension are linked. Thus, we believe patients with RLS require close observation with regard to cardiovascular risk factors.
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