title: The diagnosis of 'essential palatal tremor'.
abstract: We report a patient with a 30-year history of progressive, involuntary movements of the left ear and clicking sounds in both ears for 2 years. The patient had rhythmic contractions of the tensor veli palatini muscle and could relieve palatal movements and ear clicks, but not ear movements, by pressing a pillow against the left ear or by finger pressure on the tragus or the retroauricular region. We discuss the significance of these sensory tricks and the nosology of the long-standing ear movements within a classification of essential and symptomatic palatal tremor. Current diagnostic criteria for both types of palatal tremor may not cover some atypical cases such as ours.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Medical University of Lübeck, Germany.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Vieregge
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Klein
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gehrking
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Körtke
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kömpf
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D004423:Ear / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010156:Palatal Muscles / Q000503:physiopathology*; D014202:Tremor / Q000175:diagnosis*