Session Information
Date: Tuesday, June 21, 2016
Session Title: Restless legs syndrome and other sleep disorders
Session Time: 12:30pm-2:00pm
Location: Exhibit Hall located in Hall B, Level 2
Objective: To analyze quantitatively and with the most recent and advanced tools the presence of periodic leg movements during sleep (PLMS) PLMS and/or REM sleep without atonia (RSWA), in a group of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and to assess their correlation with the clinical severity of the disease.
Methods: Twenty-nine ALS patients were enrolled (mean age 63.6 years) along with 28 age-matched normal controls (mean age 63.8 years). Functional impairment due to ALS was evaluated using the ALS-Functional Rating Scale-Revised (ALS-FRS) and the ALS severity scale (ALSSS). Full polysomnographic night recordings were obtained in all subjects and PLMS were analyzed by considering their number/hour of sleep and periodicity index, the distribution of intermovement intervals and the distribution along the night. The characteristics of the chin EMG amplitude during REM sleep were analyzed by means of the automatic Atonia Index and the number of chin EMG activations (movements).
Results: ALS patients showed a longer sleep latency than controls, together with an increase number of stage shifts, increased sleep stage 1 and decreased sleep stage 2. None of the leg movement activity during sleep parameters were different between ALS patients and controls. REM Atonia Index was significantly decreased in ALS patients and the number of chin movements/hour tended to be increased. Both REM Atonia Index and number of chin movements/hour correlated significantly with the ALS-FRS; REM atonia was higher and chin movements where less in ALS patients with more preserved function (higher scores at the ALS-FRS).
Conclusions: Abnormal REM sleep atonia seems to be a genuine effect of the ALS pathology per se and is correlated with the clinical severity of the disease. It is unclear if this might constitute the basis of a possible risk for the development of RBD or represents a form of isolated RSWA in ALS.
To cite this abstract in AMA style:
M. Puligheddu, P. Congiu, D. Aricò, F. Rundo, F. Marrosu, G. Gioi, E. Costantino, G. Borghero, M.L. Fantini, R. Ferri. Sleep motor activity in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis [abstract]. Mov Disord. 2016; 31 (suppl 2). https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/sleep-motor-activity-in-amyotrophic-lateral-sclerosis/. Accessed May 15, 2025.« Back to 2016 International Congress
MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/sleep-motor-activity-in-amyotrophic-lateral-sclerosis/