[Clinical response to long action propranolol in 40 patients diagnosed with essential tremor with no previous treatment: an open, non-controlled study].
Essential tremor (ET) is the most common movement disorder and betablockers are still considered the first line of treatment. The aim of our study is to report the clinical response to long action propranolol (LAP) of 40 patients diagnosed with essential tremor with no previous treatment.


METHODS
40 patients with ET were evaluated with rating scales for severity of tremor and clinical classification of ET. All patients were evaluated at least twice, at enrollment and one month after starting treatment.


RESULTS
thirty-six patients (90%) had type 2 ET and types 3 and 4 occurred in two patients each (10%). Familiar history was positive in 25 patients (62.5%). Mean age at first evaluation was 43.1 years and mean age at onset was 27.4 years. Of all patients, 33 (82.5%) had some degree of benefit and in 52.5 % this benefit was either good or excellent.


CONCLUSIONS
LAP seems to be a good treatment option for ET in our series of 40 patients.
Troiano
André R
AR
Serviço de Neurologia, Departamento de Clínica Médica, Hospital de Clínicas, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, PR, Brazil.
Teive
Hélio A G
HA
Fabiani
Giórgio B
GB
Zavala
Jorge A A
JA
Sá
Daniel S
DS
Germiniani
Francisco M B
FM
Camargo
Carlos Henrique F
CH
Werneck
Lineu C
LC
D000319:Adrenergic beta-Antagonists / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000328:Adult; D020329:Essential Tremor / Q000188:drug therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011433:Propranolol / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D000319:Adrenergic beta-Antagonists; D011433:Propranolol