Restless Legs Syndrome and the Eyes

Abstract

Background: Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a movement disorder thought to be caused by impaired dopamine action. This study aimed to evaluate possible changes in ocular biometric and optic coherence tomography (OCT) parameters in RLS patients.Methods: This is a prospective, cross-sectional comparative study. Consecutive primary and secondary (with iron-deficiency anemia) RLS patients and age-matched and sex-matched controls were enrolled in the study. All participants underwent comprehensive neurological and ophthalmological examinations. Ocular biometric and OCT parameters, such as choroidal thickness, macular thickness, macular volume, ganglion cell layer thickness, inner nuclear cell layer thickness, and retinal nerve fiber layer thickness, were compared.Results: Fifty-one RLS patients and 50 healthy controls were included in this study. There was no difference between the groups' refraction status, ocular biometric data (axial length, anterior chamber depth, central corneal thickness), or OCT parameters (choroidal thickness, macular thickness, macular volume, ganglion cell layer thickness, inner nuclear cell layer thickness). Primary and secondary (with only irondeficiency anemia) RLS patients were compared, and there was no difference in their axial length, anterior chamber depth, central corneal thickness or OCT parameters. No significant relationship was found between disease severity or duration and OCT parameters.Conclusions: Disease severity and disease duration do not affect OCT parameters in primary or secondary RLS patients. OCT data do not seem to provide information about the course of this disease.