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Neurodegenerative disorder risk in idiopathic REM sleep behavior disorder: study in 174 patients
Iranzo A, Fernández-Arcos A, Tolosa E, Serradell M, Molinuevo JL, Valldeoriola F, Gelpi E, Vilaseca I et al.. PloS one, 2014-02-26
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Objective To estimate the risk for developing a defined neurodegenerative syndrome in a large cohort of idiopathic REM sleep behavior disorder (IRBD) patients with long follow-up. Methods Using the Kaplan-Meier method, we estimated the disease-free survival rate from defined neurodegenerative syndromes in all the consecutive IRBD patients diagnosed and followed-up in our tertiary referal sleep center between November 1991 and July 2013. Results The cohort comprises 174 patients with a median age at diagnosis of IRBD of 69 years and a median follow-up of four years. The risk of a defined neurodegenerative syndrome from the time of IRBD diagnosis was 33.1% at five years, 75.7% at ten years, and 90.9% at 14 years. The median conversion time was 7.5 years. Emerging diagnoses (37.4%) were dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) in 29 subjects, Parkinson disease (PD) in 22, multiple system atrophy (MSA) in two, and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in 12. In six cases, in whom postmortem was performed, neuropathological examination disclosed neuronal loss and widespread Lewy-type pathology in the brain in each case. Conclusions In a large IRBD cohort diagnosed in a tertiary referal sleep center, prolonged follow-up indicated that the majority of patients are eventually diagnosed with the synucleinopathies PD, DLB and less frequently MSA. IRBD represented the prodromal period of these conditions. Our findings in IRBD have important implications in clinical practice, in the investigation of the early pathological events occurring in the synucleinopathies, and for the design of interventions with potential disease-modifying agents.
Key findings
- Results The cohort comprises 174 patients with a median age at diagnosis of IRBD of 69 years and a median follow-up of four years.
- Conclusions In a large IRBD cohort diagnosed in a tertiary referal sleep center, prolonged follow-up indicated that the majority of patients are eventually diagnosed with the synucleinopathies PD, DLB and less frequently MSA.
- Our findings in IRBD have important implications in clinical practice, in the investigation of the early pathological events occurring in the synucleinopathies, and for the design of interventions with potential disease-modifying agents.
Why it matters
This study found that most patients with idiopathic REM sleep behavior disorder eventually developed a synucleinopathy such as dementia with Lewy bodies, Parkinson disease or multiple system atrophy. It describes a prodromal period for these conditions, but does not test treatment, cure or prevention for Alzheimer's disease.
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Study details
- Participants174
- Effect size33.1%; 75.7%; 90.9%
- Evidence strengthModerate
How this study scored 63/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (PloS one) |
| Journal's citation record | 4 / 4 | PLoS ONE: journal h-index 594 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 3 / 5 | Rated “moderate” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 2014 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 2 / 4 | 174 participants |
| Effect reported | 2 / 3 | Effect reported as a number, without an interval or test |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (participant count stated) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 6 / 7 | Cited 547 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 4 / 5 | 39.1 citations a year over 14 year(s) since 2014 |
| Impact for its field and year | 5 / 6 | Cited 26.5× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 3 / 6 | Cited by 10 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 3 / 4 | Cited 126 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 3 / 4 | Last-listed author Joan Santamaría: h-index 76 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 1 / 3 | Hospital Clínic de Barcelona: institution h-index 827 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 2 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 4 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 24587002) |
| Free to read | 2 / 2 | Free to read |
| Total | 63 / 100 | — |
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Read the original
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Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record's author list ends in “et al.”, so not every author is named. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Iranzo, A., Fernández-Arcos, A., Tolosa, E., Serradell, M., Molinuevo, J. L., Valldeoriola, F., et al. (2014). Neurodegenerative disorder risk in idiopathic REM sleep behavior disorder: study in 174 patients. PloS one. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0089741
Vancouver
Iranzo A, Fernández-Arcos A, Tolosa E, Serradell M, Molinuevo JL, Valldeoriola F, et al. Neurodegenerative disorder risk in idiopathic REM sleep behavior disorder: study in 174 patients. PloS one. 2014. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0089741. PMID: 24587002.
BibTeX
@article{iranzo2014-24587002,
author = {Iranzo, A. and Fernández-Arcos, A. and Tolosa, E. and Serradell, M. and Molinuevo, J. L. and Valldeoriola, F. and Gelpi, E. and Vilaseca, I. and others},
title = {{Neurodegenerative disorder risk in idiopathic REM sleep behavior disorder: study in 174 patients}},
journal = {PloS one},
year = {2014},
doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0089741},
pmid = {24587002},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0089741}
}
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