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.


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.


CONCLUSIONS
These preliminary results might be interpreted as the effect of an impaired supraspinal dopaminergic control with possible action on spinal structures involved in the control of gait. If confirmed in future studies, this mild EMG abnormality might constitute an additional supportive feature for the diagnosis of RLS in difficult cases.
Paci
Domenico
D
Gait Analysis Laboratory, Oasi Institute for Research on Mental Retardation and Brain Aging (IRCCS), Troina, Italy.
Lanuzza
Bartolo
B
Cosentino
Filomena I I
FI
Belfiore
Antonella
A
Papotto
Maurizio
M
Cocilovo
Anna
A
Iero
Ivan
I
Tripodi
Mariangela
M
Ferri
Raffaele
R