Emergence of Parkinson's disease in essential tremor: A study of the clinical correlates in 53 patients

Mia T. Minen, Elan D. Louis

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

83 Scopus citations

Abstract

Patients with essential tremor (ET) may develop Parkinson's disease (PD); however, few studies have examined the clinical features of this combination syndrome. Fifty-three patients with ET-PD were studied and compared to 53 PD and 150 ET patients. Although the latency from onset of ET to PD was brief (< 5 years) in 38.5%, in a sizable proportion (30.8%), it was very long (>20 years). The gender distribution of ET-PD (67.9% male) was identical to that of PD (67.9% male), yet differed from that of ET (50.0% male) (P = 0.02). The initial cardinal sign of PD was rest tremor in 100% of patients. In ET-PD, the side of greatest initial ET severity usually matched that of greatest PD severity (P < 0.05). In ET-PD, male gender predominated and the sidedness of the ET and PD usually matched. The co-occurrence of the two diagnoses in the same patient may be mechanistically related.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1602-1605
Number of pages4
JournalMovement Disorders
Volume23
Issue number11
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 15 2008
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Clinical
  • Epidemiology
  • Essential tremor
  • Parkinson's disease

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Neurology
  • Clinical Neurology

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