Photo Credit: Mr. Suphachai Praserdumrongchai
The following is a summary of “Cerebral blood flow changes in maintenance hemodialysis patients with restless legs syndrome and their clinical significance: a cross-sectional case-control study,” published in the April 2024 issue of Neurology by Li et al.
Researchers started a retrospective study to assess changes in cerebral blood flow (CBF) measured by arterial spin labeling (ASL) in different brain regions of maintenance in patients with hemodialysis (MHD) and analyze risk factors for developing restless legs syndrome (RLS).
They included 31 patients with MHD and RLS (MHD-RLS group) and 31 non-RLS patients (MHD-nRLS group) matched for age, gender, and cognitive function. After preprocessing images and analyzing data, they obtained changes in CBF values in different brain regions. The CBF values of brain regions were correlated, showing significant differences between the two groups with RLS scores. Baseline data differences and used multifactorial logistic regression were compared to identify independent risk factors for RLS development.
The results showed that compared to the MHD-nRLS group, the MHD-RLS group exhibited increased CBF in the right superior temporal gyrus and reduced CBF in various brain regions. Specifically, the left precentral gyrus CBF negatively correlated with RLS scores after correcting for dialysis duration (r = -0.436, P=0.016). Stepwise multifactorial regression analysis indicated that left precentral gyrus CBF values (OR: 0.968, 95%CI: 0.944–0.993, P=0.012) remained an independent risk factor for RLS in patients with MHD. Hemodialysis duration (OR: 1.055, 95%CI: 1.014–1.098, P=0.008) and serum iron levels (OR: 0.685, 95%CI: 0.551–0.852, P=0.001) were identified as additional risk factors for RLS development.
Investigators concluded that decreased CBF, particularly in the left precentral gyrus, along with longer hemodialysis and iron deficiency, were associated with RLS in maintenance hemodialysis patients.
Source: bmcneurol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12883-024-03636-w