Absence of cardiovascular disease risk factors in restless legs syndrome.

OBJECTIVE: Restless legs syndrome (RLS) might represent a condition at risk of cardiovascular (and cerebrovascular) disease; the role of sleep periodic leg movements, sleep deprivation, and presence of common risk factors for heart disease in these patients remains to be determined. The aim of this study was to evaluate the eventual presence of risk factors for cerebrovascular disease in RLS. MATERIALS & METHODS: Eighty-seven consecutive patients affected by idiopathic RLS were included in this study together with 81 controls. Blood count, chemistry, and kidney function tests were obtained. We detected subjects suffering from diabetes mellitus, kidney diseases, heart diseases, disk herniation, neuropathy, blood diseases, liver diseases, artery diseases, dyslipidemia, or hypertension. Polysomnography was recorded in 66 patients, and cerebral neuroimaging was obtained in 59 patients with RLS. RESULTS: None of the differences in blood test parameters was statistically significant; however, hypertension was found to be more frequent in controls and dyslipidemia was more frequent in patients with RLS, but this was explained by its higher frequency in patients also affected by obstructive sleep apnea. A diagnosis of cerebrovascular disease was posed for 14 patients with RLS (16.1%), but no predictive factor for its presence was found at the binomial logistic regression. CONCLUSION: Our findings argue against the presence of an altered lipid metabolism as a risk factor for the development of cerebrovascular disease in patients with RLS, even if they do support the idea that cerebrovascular disease might be frequent in this condition.

A single question for the rapid screening of restless legs syndrome in the neurological clinical practice.

The purposes of this study were to validate the use of a single standard question for the rapid screening of restless legs syndrome (RLS) and to analyze the eventual effects of the presence of RLS on self-assessed daytime sleepiness, global clinical severity and cognitive functioning. We evaluated a group of 521 consecutive patients who accessed our neurology clinic for different reasons. Beside the answer to the single question and age, sex, and clinical diagnosis, the following items were collected from all patients and normal controls: the four criteria for RLS, the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), the Clinical Global Impression of Severity (CGI-S), and the Mini-Mental State evaluation. RLS was found in 112 patients (70 idiopathic). The single question had 100% sensitivity and 96.8% specificity for the diagnosis of RLS. ESS and CGI-S were significantly higher in both RLS patient groups than in normal controls. RLS severity was significantly higher in idiopathic than in associated/symptomatic RLS patients. RLS can be screened with high sensitivity and good reliability in large patient groups by means of the single question; however, the final diagnosis should always be confirmed by the diagnostic features of RLS and accompanied by a careful search for comorbid conditions.

[186Re]HEDP in the palliation of painful bone metastases from cancers other than prostate and breast.

AIM: Palliative therapy using [186Re]hydroxyethylidene diphosphonate (HEDP) has been widely tested in patients with bone metastases from prostate and breast cancers. Whereas, to the best of our knowledge, only few cases of bone metastases from tumors other than prostate and breast treated with [186Re]HEDP have been reported. The aim of this paper is to report our experience with 186Re-HEDP in the palliation of painful bone metastases from tumors other than prostate and breast. METHODS: In this study 41 patients (17 non-small cell lung cancer-NSCLC, 1 small cell lung cancer, 1 lung neuroendocrine tumor, 8 bladder cancer, 3 kidney cancer, 3 gastric cancer, 1 uterine carcinoma, 1 colon cancer, 1 rhinopharynx carcinoma, 1 medullary thyroid carcinoma, 1 ovarian cancer, 1 esophagus cancer, 2 carcinoma of unknown origin) are evaluated. All patients had lesions with increased [99mTc]MDP uptake and none had radiological findings of mainly osteolytic lesions. A total of 46 therapeutic cycles were performed using a [186Re]HEDP activity of 1 295 MBq for each administration. After treatment, patients were followed up for 3 months or to the time of pain recurrence (if longer than 3 months). Responses were evaluated using a validated method considering the modifications of pain index, analgesic intake and performance status. RESULTS: Treatment efficacy was complete in 49% (20/41) of patients, partial in 36% (15/41) and negative in 15% (6/41). Namely, we observed 35% (6/17) complete, 41% (7/17) partial and 24% (4/17) negative responses in patients with NSCLC and 63% (5/8) complete, 25% (2/8) partial and 12% (1/8) negative responses in patients affected by bladder cancer. The median duration of pain relief in responder patients was 10 weeks. A mild platelet toxicity occurred in 32% (13/41) of patients. CONCLUSIONS: Pain palliation with [186Re]HEDP seems highly effective and safe also in patients with bone metastases from cancers other than prostate and breast. Patients who can benefit from the treatment with [186Re]HEDP can be selected on the basis of [99mTc]MDP bone scan and radiological examination findings.