Restless legs syndrome: an early manifestation of Huntington's disease?

• Published in: Acta neurologica Scandinavica Vol. 119; no. 4; pp. 274 - 276
• Main Authors: Savva, E., Schnorf, H., Burkhard, P. R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01-04-2009
• Subjects: Humans; Huntington Disease - complications; Huntington Disease - diagnosis; Huntington's disease; Male; Middle Aged; Polysomnography; restless legs syndrome; Restless Legs Syndrome - complications; Restless Legs Syndrome - drug therapy
• ISSN: 0001-6314; 1600-0404
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-0404.2008.01091.x

Background –  Far from being uniform, Huntington’s disease (HD)’s phenotype encompasses a large variety of motor and non‐motor symptoms which occur in various combinations in individual patients.
Aim –  To describe an unusual association between restless legs syndrome (RLS) and HD.
Methods and results –  We report a patient with an atypical presentation of genetically demonstrated HD, who developed typical RLS a few years prior to and during the course of HD. Common causes of RLS were excluded and the polysomnography confirmed frequent and severe periodic limb movements during sleep and while awake.
Conclusions –  We propose RLS as an uncommon but early feature of HD in some patients, and suggest adding HD to the already long list of RLS secondary to neurodegenerative conditions.