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Treatment of essential tremor: a systematic review of evidence and recommendations from the Italian Movement Disorders Association

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An Erratum to this article was published on 28 November 2012

Abstract

Essential tremor (ET) is one of the most common movement disorders of adults, characterized by postural and kinetic tremor. It often causes embarrassment and more rarely serious disability, requiring treatment. To assess the current state of knowledge on ET therapy and produce recommendations based on the analysis of evidence the authors reviewed the literature regarding pharmacologic and surgical therapies, providing a quality assessment of the studies and the strength of recommendations for each treatment. A committee of experts selected clinical-based questions to guide the search. A systematic literature review was performed to identify all the studies conducted on patients with ET published until September 2010. Articles were classified according to GRADE evidence profile, a system for grading the quality of evidence and the strength of recommendation based on the quality of the studies. The quality of evidence was often rated as “low” or “very low” for the studies analyzed. Propranolol, long-acting propranolol, primidone, and topiramate are recommended as first-line therapy, with restrictions for their side effects. Arotinolol, sotalol, ICI 118.551 and LI 32.468 (experimental drugs), zonisamide, gabapentin, alprazolam, clozapine, and olanzapine are recommended as a second-line treatment. Botulinum toxin type A and thalamic deep-brain stimulation are recommended for refractory ET. The results highlight the need of well-designed direct comparison trials aimed at evaluating relative effectiveness and safety of the drugs currently used in clinical practice. Furthermore, additional controlled clinical trials are required to define other possible treatment strategies for ameliorating the management of ET.

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Acknowledgment

We are grateful to Alberto Boccanelli, from the DISMOV-SIN secretary's office, for his assistance during the organization of the work.

Conflicts of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department GF Ingrassia, Section of Neurosciences, University of Catania, via Santa Sofia 78, 95123, Catania, Italy

    Mario Zappia, Elisa Bruno, Alessandra Nicoletti & Graziella Quattrocchi

  2. Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico “Carlo Besta”, 20133, Milan, Italy

    Alberto Albanese & Graziella Filippini

  3. Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 20123, Milan, Italy

    Alberto Albanese

  4. Department of Neurology and Psychiatry, “Sapienza” University of Rome, Rome, Italy

    Carlo Colosimo

  5. Department of Neurological Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy

    Paolo Martinelli

Authors
  1. Mario Zappia
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  2. Alberto Albanese
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  3. Elisa Bruno
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  4. Carlo Colosimo
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  5. Graziella Filippini
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  6. Paolo Martinelli
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  7. Alessandra Nicoletti
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  8. Graziella Quattrocchi
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Consortia

Italian Movement Disorders Association (DISMOV-SIN) Essential Tremor Committee

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mario Zappia.

Additional information

On behalf of the Italian Movement Disorders Association (DISMOV-SIN) Essential Tremor Committee.

Appendices

Appendix 1

See Table 9.

Table 9 MEDLINE search strategy
Full size table

Appendix 2

See Table 10.

Table 10 Beta-blockers: characteristics of included studies
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Appendix 3

See Table 11.

Table 11 Anticonvulsants and benzodiazepines
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Appendix 4

See Table 12.

Table 12 Neuroleptics
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Appendix 5

See Table 13.

Table 13 Amantadine
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Appendix 6

See Table 14.

Table 14 Botulinum toxin type A
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Appendix 7

See Table 15.

Table 15 Thalamotomy
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Appendix 8

See Table 16.

Table 16 Deep-brain stimulation
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Zappia, M., Albanese, A., Bruno, E. et al. Treatment of essential tremor: a systematic review of evidence and recommendations from the Italian Movement Disorders Association. J Neurol 260, 714–740 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00415-012-6628-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00415-012-6628-x

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