A clinical study of non-parkinsonian tremor in Moroccan patients.

OBJECTIVE: To report the characteristics of the most frequent tremors in a population of Moroccan patients.

BACKGROUND: Tremor is the most common movement disorder. It implies a wide variety of disorders with Parkinson's disease and essential tremor being the most frequent.

METHODS: A retrospective study of 148 patients with tremor referred to our movement disorders outpatient clinic was performed. Clinical features and treatment regimens were analyzed. Patients with parkinsonian tremor were excluded.

RESULTS: We included 62 patients with non-parkinsonian tremor. The etiologies were as follows: essential tremor (54.8%), dystonic tremor (19.4%), tremor associated with dystonia (14.5%), enhanced physiological tremor (3.2%), cerebellar tremor (3.2%), psychogenic tremor (3.2%) and Holmes' tremor (1.6%). The characteristics of essential tremor patients were analyzed. Female patients accounted for 67.6% of patients. Mean age at the onset of tremor was 52.2 ± 16.4 years. Family history of tremor was reported in 17.6% of cases. Tremor affected the arms (94.1%), head (52.9%), voice (35.3%) and legs (8.8%). Tremor was bilateral in 87.5% but was asymmetrical in 50% of patients. Patients had postural tremor (76.5%), kinetic tremor (79.4%) and rest tremor (associated in 11.8%). Treatment relied on propranolol (88.3%), primidone (14.7%), gabapentin (14.7%), clonazepam (14.7%), alprazolam (11.8%), topiramate (5.9%) and, in one patient, radiosurgery.

CONCLUSIONS: Essential tremor was the predominant diagnosis, confirming its high prevalence. There was a predominance of female patients and a peak of age at onset in the fifth and sixth decades. Asymmetry of the disease was noted in half of patients.