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Therapies for Restless Legs in Parkinson’s Disease

  • Sleep Disorders (A Iranzo, Section Editor)
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Abstract

Purpose of review

The aim of this article was to review the options and particularities of the treatment of restless legs syndrome (RLS) in Parkinson’s disease (PD).

Recent findings

RLS is more frequent in PD than in the general population. Even if these two disorders share some specificity (dopa-sensitivity), they also differ in many features (iron load, genetic profile, dopaminergic cell count), resulting in different adaptations of the treatment. Only one study has specifically explored and demonstrated the efficacy of a treatment (rotigotine) in RLS with PD, constraining us to treat RLS with PD by analogy as idiopathic RLS in the other cases. However, arrangements linked to the peculiar population and pathology of PD are required.

Summary

The treatment of RLS in PD consists in adaptation of dopaminergic treatment and introduction of alpha-2-delta ligands and, in refractory cases, of opioids or deep brain stimulation. Iron deficiency should probably not be compensated.

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  1. Sleep and Neurology unit, Beau Soleil Clinic, 119 avenue de Lodève, 34070, Montpellier, France

    Valérie Cochen De Cock MD, PhD

  2. EuroMov, Université de Montpellier, Montpellier, France

    Valérie Cochen De Cock MD, PhD

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Correspondence to Valérie Cochen De Cock MD, PhD.

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Cochen De Cock, V. Therapies for Restless Legs in Parkinson’s Disease. Curr Treat Options Neurol 21, 56 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11940-019-0596-8

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