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Background: Cerebrovascular diseases are the leading cause of cognitive decline and dementia. Therefore, the investigation of the potential ways to slow down the disease progression is an important research field. Periodic limb movements in sleep (PLMS) are known to be associated with transient changes in heart rate and blood pressure. These changes might influence the course of cerebral small vessel disease (cSVD). Nevertheless, the clinical significance of PLMS, particularly its influence on cardiovascular diseases course, is still controversial and underinvestigated.Methods/design: Patients from 60 to 75 years old diagnosed with cSVD will undergo nocturnal polysomnography. Subjects with apnea/hypopnea index under 5 will be enrolled. Sleep quality and daytime functioning will be assessed at baseline with self-reported questionnaires. Brain MRI and cognitive assessment will be performed at baseline and in the 2-year follow-up. Progression of cSVD markers and cognitive dysfunction will be compared between patients with PLMS index (PLMI) equal to or more than 15 movements per hour of sleep and controls (PLMI <15/h).Discussion: The negative role of PLMS in cSVD progression and related cognitive decline is expected. We suppose that patients with PLMS tend to worsen in cognitive performance more rapidly than age-, gender-, and comorbidity-matched controls. We also expect them to have more rapid white matter hyperintensities and other cSVD marker progression. The limitations of the study protocol are the short follow-up period, the absence of a treatment group, and inability to make a conclusion about causality.

There are both scientific interest and practical value to study the medical consequences of the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) due to its pandemic status and high prevalence of different complaints among COVID-19 survivors. These complaints are called “post-COVID” or “long COVID” syndrome. One of the frequent symptoms of post-COVID syndrome is sleep disturbances, predominantly insomnia. The article provides epidemiological data, pathogenesis, socioeconomic factors, and therapeutic approach to insomnia associated with post-COVID syndrome.The increase of sleep disturbances prevalence in pandemic conditions has a comprehensive nature. It includes the disease consequences itself and change of lifestyle due to lockdown. The lifestyle change leads to physical activity decrease and inadequate sleep hygiene. Besides, the high stress level is also the reason for sleep disturbances. The direct effects of COVID-19 on the central nervous system are understudied at the moment. Nevertheless, there are reasons to suggest neurotropic characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 to underlie post-COVID neurological and psychiatric disturbances.Taking into account that general practitioners are mainly addressed post-COVID complaints, the recommended hypnotics should be safe, easily prescribed, and highly effective. The probable presence of the psychiatric pathology should be also assessed because the sleep complaints might be its manifestation.

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