Grey matter alterations in restless legs syndrome: A coordinate-based meta-analysis

Area of Science:

• Neuroimaging
• Neurology
• Radiology

Background:

• Brain structural abnormalities in idiopathic restless legs syndrome (RLS) remain a subject of debate.
• Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) is a magnetic resonance imaging technique used to detect regional grey matter differences.
• Previous VBM studies on RLS have yielded inconsistent findings regarding grey matter alterations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantitatively assess consistent grey matter findings in restless legs syndrome through a coordinate-based meta-analysis.
• To determine if voxel-based morphometry reveals reliable neuroimaging markers for RLS.

Main Methods:

• A coordinate-based meta-analysis was performed on 12 voxel-based morphometry studies (13 datasets).
• Included data comprised 375 patients with restless legs syndrome and 385 healthy controls.
• The latest algorithms, including seed-based d mapping with permutation of subject images, were utilized.

Main Results:

• The meta-analysis did not identify statistically significant evidence of consistent grey matter alterations in individuals with restless legs syndrome.
• No reliable surrogate neuroimaging marker for restless legs syndrome was established through voxel-based morphometry analysis.

Conclusions:

• Consistent grey matter alterations are not evident in restless legs syndrome based on current voxel-based morphometry meta-analysis.
• Heterogeneity in study methodologies, patient characteristics, and clinical factors may explain the lack of consistent findings.
• Future longitudinal studies employing multimodal neuroimaging are recommended to explore dynamic structural changes and their relationship to functional abnormalities.