Clinical Overview Epidemiology   Etiology   Morbidity

In the mid-1940s, Swedish neurologist Karl-Axel Ekbom coined the term restless legs syndrome (RLS) to describe the leg dysesthesias/paresthesias he observed in a group of patients.⁶ However, the clinical features of RLS may have been first described by English physician Sir Thomas Willis in 1672.⁷ Despite many years of research and increased disease recognition, RLS still remains underdiagnosed or misdiagnosed to this day.¹