Subclinical abnormal EMG activation of the gastrocnemii during gait analysis in restless legs syndrome: a preliminary report in 13 patients.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to detect the eventual presence of a minor voluntary motor involvement in restless legs syndrome (RLS), not detectable clinically, which might be observed by means of a sophisticated instrumental analysis of movement, such as gait analysis.

Subjects And Methods: Gait analysis was performed and surface EMG activity was recorded in 13 RLS patients and 8 normal controls from 8 muscles: tibialis anterior, gastrocnemius lateralis, gastrocnemius medialis, and soleus in both legs.

Results: Ten out of the 13 RLS patients and none of the normal control group showed a mild abnormality of the EMG activation of the gastrocnemius muscles during gait which, however, had no detectable effects on its kinematics.

The APOE epsilon4 allele increases the risk of impaired spatial working memory in obstructive sleep apnea.

Background: Contradictory data have been published on the influence of Apolipoprotein E (APOE) epsilon4 allele on obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). The aims of this study were to confirm the presence of specific neuropsychological changes in OSA patients carrying the APOE epsilon4 allele and to clarify if these changes are due to the sole presence of this allele or to its interactions with OSA pathology.

Methods: The APOE genotype was examined in 123 patients with OSA and in 121 controls, together with a series of neuropsychological tests.

Agrypnia excitata in a patient with progeroid short stature and pigmented Nevi (Mulvihill-Smith syndrome).

We report the video-polysomnographic sleep characteristics of a 25-year-old woman with the Mulvihill-Smith syndrome, a rare clinical condition characterized by progeria-like aspect, peculiar multiple pigmented nevi, low stature, and cognitive impairment. Among the various exams, two overnight video-polysomnographic recordings were carried out; moreover, cerebral MRI and molecular analysis of the prion protein gene (PRNP) were also performed. The video-polysomnographic recordings showed the absence of clear sleep episodes but the presence of periods during which the patient had poor contact with the environment, stereotyped afinalistic movements of the upper limbs and hands, irregular or periodic breathing (with central apnea episodes), heart rate arrhythmia, and rapid eye movements.

The neurophysiology of the alternating leg muscle activation (ALMA) during sleep: study of one patient before and after treatment with pramipexole.

Background And Purposes: To report the neurophysiological features of a patient with alternating leg muscle activation (ALMA) during sleep, a quickly alternating pattern of anterior tibialis activation which might represent transient facilitation of a spinal central pattern generator for locomotion, perhaps due to the serotonergic effects of antidepressant medication.

Patient And Methods: A 33-year-old male patient with ALMA. The patient underwent a complete and detailed study of his neurophysiological parameters during sleep, before and after treatment with pramipexole.