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Periodic Leg Movements During Sleep and Cardiovascular and/or Cerebrovascular Morbidity

  • Sleep and 3D (Cancer, Cardiovascular, Metabolic Diseases) (D Gozal, Section Editor)
  • Published:
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Abstract

Purpose of Review

To evaluate if periodic leg movements during sleep (PLMS) may be associated with increased cardiovascular or cerebrovascular morbidity

Recent Findings

PLMS are accompanied by rises in hear rate and blood pressure and by important transient EEG changes indicating sleep fragmentation; in addition, PLMS have been related to elevated levels of inflammatory markers that are associated with increased cardiovascular and cerebrovascular risk and several reports have suggested that PLMS may play an important role in increasing cardiovascular risk, resulting in hypertension, cardiac ischemic disease, and cerebrovascular disease.

Summary

Although a body of evidence suggests that PLMS are involved in increasing cardiovascular risk, additional studies are needed to establish the contributory role of PLMS to cardiovascular homeostasis and morbidity in patients with and without RLS, and to evaluate the role of the specific PLMS treatment to reduce the risk.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sleep Disorders Centre, University of Cagliari, SS554 Bivio Sestu, I-09042, Monserrato, Cagliari, Italy

    Patrizia Congiu, Monica Puligheddu & Michela Figorilli

  2. Oasi Research Institute - IRCCS, via C. Ruggero 73, I-94018, Troina, Italy

    Raffaele Ferri

Authors
  1. Patrizia Congiu
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  2. Monica Puligheddu
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  3. Michela Figorilli
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  4. Raffaele Ferri
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Correspondence to Raffaele Ferri.

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Patrizia Congiu, Monica Puligheddu, Michela Figorilli, and Raffaele Ferri declare no conflicts of interest.

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This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Sleep and 3D (Cancer, Cardiovascular, Metabolic Diseases)

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Congiu, P., Puligheddu, M., Figorilli, M. et al. Periodic Leg Movements During Sleep and Cardiovascular and/or Cerebrovascular Morbidity. Curr Sleep Medicine Rep 4, 58–64 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40675-018-0101-z

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