Benign tremulous Parkinson's disease

To analyze the long-term outcomes of patients presenting with pure parkinsonian tremor and to determine whether or not such patients develop the other features of Parkinson's disease (PD) eventually.

Two hundred fifty-one patients with PD followed at our referral center were examined regularly. In this study, we evaluated the long-term follow up of the the patients with parkinsonian tremor without bradykinesia or rigidity.

The mean disease duration was 5 years (range: 2-10 yrs.) at the last follow-up visit. This final group included 7 female and 16 male patients with a mean age of 66.6 +/- 10.8 years. Four groups of patients were identified. First group consisted of 15 patients presenting with rest tremor; most prominently in one upper limb and/or contra-lateral upper limb. In the second group, there were 3 patients who had parkinsonian tremor with greatest severity in one lower limb and ipsilateral upper limb. Group 3 comprised 2 patients who had parkinsonian tremor in only one lower limb. The fourth group comprised 3 patients with isolated jaw tremor.

Some patients with pure parkinsonian tremor may remain without bradykinesia or rigidity for a long time, which may be considered a benign form of Parkinson's disease.