Periodic Limb Movement Disorder: a Clinical Update

Abstract

Overview of recent development in the diagnosis and treatment of the periodic limb movement disorder (PLMD). The last years have seen several changes concerning PLMD diagnosis, detailed in the third edition of the International Classification of Sleep Disorders (ICSD-3) in 2014 as well as in periodic limb movements during sleep (PLMS) scoring criteria published by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and by the World Association of Sleep Medicine, with these publications motivated by the need to distinguish clinically relevant and specific observations from incidental findings. Information on the treatment of PLMD continues to be largely absent in adults but slowly accumulating for the treatment of PLMD in children. PLMD remains an understudied sleep disorder. While PLMS are frequent, the delineation of a form where these PLMS are clinically relevant remains a challenge in clinical practice and the scientific study of this disorder.