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MRI-guided Focused Ultrasound Thalamotomy for Patients with Medically-refractory Essential Tremor
05:54

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Published on: December 13, 2017

Carisbamate in essential tremor: brief report of a proof of concept study

Rodger J Elble1, David M Biondi, Steve Ascher

  • 1Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, Springfield, Illinois 62794-9643, USA. relble@siumed.edu

Movement Disorders : Official Journal of the Movement Disorder Society
|March 5, 2010
PubMed

Insights

Carisbamate, a neuromodulator for epilepsy, did not show significant benefits for essential tremor patients compared to placebo. The investigational drug was well-tolerated, with similar adverse events to placebo.

Area of Science:

  • Neurology
  • Clinical Pharmacology

Background:

  • Essential tremor (ET) is a common neurological disorder.
  • Current treatments for ET have limitations, necessitating novel therapeutic approaches.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate the efficacy and safety of carisbamate in patients with essential tremor.
  • To assess carisbamate's impact on tremor severity, mood, and quality of life.

Main Methods:

  • A multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study.
  • Sixty-two patients received carisbamate 400 mg/day or placebo for two 21-day periods.
  • The Fahn-Tolosa-Marín Tremor Rating Scale (TRS) was the primary outcome measure.

Main Results:

  • No significant difference was observed between carisbamate and placebo in improving TRS scores (P = 0.94).
  • Carisbamate did not demonstrate superiority over placebo in affecting mood or quality of life measures.
  • The adverse event profile of carisbamate was comparable to placebo, indicating good tolerability.

Conclusions:

  • Carisbamate did not prove effective in treating essential tremor in this study population.
  • Further research may be needed to explore other potential indications or dosages for carisbamate.
  • Carisbamate appears to be a safe investigational neuromodulator with a tolerability profile similar to placebo.

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