Intravenous low molecular weight iron dextran appears to provide effective long-lasting treatment for some patients with restless leg syndrome (RLS), even for those with normal serum ferritin levels, research indicates.
The results showed that 68% of 25 patients with RLS showed moderate or complete improvement of all RLS symptoms after treatment according to a Korean-translated version of the International RLS Severity (K-IRLS) scale and the PAM-RL device, which records periodic leg movements.
However, as reported in Sleep Medicine, the researchers saw no correlation between increases in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) ferritin in response to therapy and clinical improvements.
"Although a relatively accessible measure, CSF ferritin is at best a crude measure of CNS [central nervous system] iron status and not necessarily reflective of regionally specific changes in iron status that are assumed to account for the symptom development," say Yong Won Cho, from Keimyung University School of Medicine in Daegu, South Korea, and colleagues.
"In addition, the narrow range of symptom severity in this study may have limited our ability to find any differences between CSF ferritin and subjective measures of the disease."
Intravenous iron dextran effective for restless leg syndrome
