C H A P T E R 3

Source and Nature of my Cases

The description of asthenia crurum paraesthetica is based main- ly on a series of 34 moderately severe and severe cases. All the patients were greatly troubled by the symptoms and wanted treatment. I n most instances the symptoms usually kept up for hours a t a time. In 9 cases they went on nearly the whole night when they were worst. Twenty-two of the 34 cases were from the neurologic out-patient service and 12 from my private prac- tice. Four of the patients had also been admitted to the neurolo- gic service. The 34 case histories are related at the last of this book. All the patients were examined by me personally. Great trouble was taken to get the complete history and make a care- ful examination. These pages are not based on a compilation of average case records, which are often of the most summary nature in an out-patient department, but on cases which were thoroughly studied from the beginning. But obviously it is hardly possible to make as comprehensive and uniform an investigation of out- patients as of hospitalized cases.

I have also encountered 65 cases in which the symptoms were so mild that they did not need any treatment. These mild cases were detected by questioning 1,006 persons, both healthy ones and ones from the surgical and neurologic out-patient services of the Serafimer Hospital. Questioning of 4188 mothers shortly after childbirth a t the General Maternity Hospital and obstetrical service of St. Erik’s Hospital revealed that 55 of them had had crawling sensations in their legs during their pregnancy.

The description of asthenia crurum dolorosa is based on 15 cases. Ten were from the neurologic out-patient service, 2 from the neurologic service and 3 from my private practice. This disease group is diffuse and the diagnosis is often uncertain, For this reason the description is relatively brief.

It may sometimes be doubtful whether a case belong6 in the group asthenia crurum paraesthetica or asthenia crurum dolo-

R E S T L E S S L E G S 17

rosa. It is best I describe how the classification was done, since the statistics on the therapeutic results were affected thereby. The cases were divided into the two groups as soon as I felt I had had enough experience to do so, that is, when about half the seies had been collected. Every new case thereafter was then placed immediately in m e or the other group, and since then I have not done any regrouping. On looking through the groups now, it is seen that three cases in the painful group (40, 41 and 53) could perhaps be moved o,ver to the paresthetic group. Two of them were favorably influenced by Do~ryl and one by Priscol. Thus the therapeutic statistics in the paresthetic group were not helped by the clasification.

2 - Bkbom