[Restless legs syndrome and periodic leg movements during sleep in patients with sleep apnea--a therapeutic problem?]

Restless-legs syndrome and periodic movements during sleep are associated with sleep apnoea syndrome. Similar to sleep apnoea syndrome, restless-legs syndrome and periodic movements during sleep may cause severe hyposomnia and hypersomnia. Exact diagnosis may partly fail in severe obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome if only cardiorespiratory polygraphy is performed. Simultaneous videorecordings and EMG of mm. tibialis ant. ensure diagnosis. Therapeutic regime may be difficult due to failure or side effects, however. We report on our experience in an one-year follow-up of 12 patients with sleep apnoea syndrome and restless-legs syndrome and/or periodic movements during sleep. Despite adequate interdisciplinary initiation of therapy and monitoring, these patients are often subject to therapy changes, failures or side effects. There was no correlation between jerks and the complaints of the patients.