["Painful legs and moving toes" and muscle cramps spreading to the bilateral legs in a patient with alcoholic polyneuropathy].

ABSTRACT

A 37-year-old man with alcoholic polyneuropathy showed involuntary movement as intermittent flexion-extension or abduction-adduction of his toes identical to "painful legs and moving toes (PLMT)" and muscle cramps. Regarding the sequential spreading of PLMT and cramps from unilateral to contralateral leg muscles and phasic discharges observed by a needle EMG in the foot muscles during PLMT, we suppose that a spinal or supraspinal mechanism was responsible for the production of those movements. This case showed novel aspects of PLMT which was induced by sensory stimulation of the left lower leg and subsequently initiated cramps. The destruction of the lumbar sympathetic ganglion remarkably ameliorated the spontaneous PLMT and cramps, whereas sensory stimulation of the left lower leg still induced those movements. Therefore, we think that sensory inputs from peripheral nerves played a critical role in the generation of PLMT and cramps, and abnormal activities of spinal sympathetic nerves exacerbated those involuntary movements. Sensory induced PLMT may be a subgroup of this movement disorder.