Posts Tagged ‘Postural tremor’

Postural Tremor

Tuesday, August 19th, 2014

The patient in this video has no hand tremor during rest. However, when the patient is asked to maintain her arms in an outstretched position, a right hand tremor can be seen (postural tremor). The patient also had an action tremor (not shown in this video) and was subsequently diagnosed to have essential tremor – the most common of all movement disorders. The cause is currently unknown, however a positive family history is often noted and genetic linkage has been established in several chromosomal regions. Essential tremor is a postural and action tremor and tends to affect the hands, head and voice. If the head is affected, the movement can be anterior-posterior (affirmative, yes-yes tremor) or lateral (negative, no-no tremor). Patients with mild non-disabling symptoms do not require treatment. Those with moderate-severe, disabling symptoms can be treated medically and beta-blockers (e.g. propranolol) are used as first line medications. Use of deep-brain stimulation and high intensity focused ultrasound are emerging therapies that are used in specialized centres for severe cases of essential tremor that are not responsive to medications.