title: Significance of cerebellar Purkinje cell loss to pathogenesis of essential tremor.
abstract: Some recent studies indicate that most essential tremor (ET) cases have cerebellar pathology characterized by Purkinje cell (PC) loss and its sequelae.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To assess the role of PC degeneration in ET symptomatology.
  
  
  METHODS
  We studied seven ET, six tremor dominant Parkinson's disease controls and two normal control brains. Cerebellar PC counts were done in all cases by a neuropathologist using three different methods to identify PC.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were individual differences in PC counts in all subgroups. There was no difference between ET and controls of the same age. The PC count in ET was not related to: onset site of ET, severity of symptoms, or any other clinical features that we studied but there was a trend to a reduced number of PC with age in all groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is no evidence in our study or in the literature to date indicating that PC loss is the pathological basis of ET. Further studies are needed to determine the pathophysiology of ET.
authors.affiliation: Saskatchewan Movement Disorders Program, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon Health Region, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. ali.rajput@saskatoonhealthregion.ca
authors.forename: A H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Rajput
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rajput
mesh_terms: D020329:Essential Tremor / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D009410:Nerve Degeneration / Q000473:pathology*; D011689:Purkinje Cells / Q000473:pathology*