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MRI-guided Focused Ultrasound Thalamotomy for Patients with Medically-refractory Essential Tremor
Published on: December 13, 2017
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Ethosuximide for Essential Tremor: An Open-Label Trial.
Alexandre Gironell1, Juan Marin-Lahoz1
1Movement Disorders Unit, Department of Neurology, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.
Tremor and Other Hyperkinetic Movements (New York, N.Y.)
|September 15, 2016
Summary
Ethosuximide did not effectively reduce essential tremor (ET) symptoms in a small clinical trial. The study was stopped early due to lack of efficacy and frequent adverse effects, indicating it is not a viable ET treatment.
Area of Science:
- Neurology
- Pharmacology
Background:
- T-type calcium channels are implicated in essential tremor (ET) pathophysiology.
- Ethosuximide, a T-type calcium channel blocker, has shown potential in animal models of ET.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the efficacy and safety of ethosuximide in treating essential tremor (ET).
Main Methods:
- An open-label trial involving seven ET patients treated with 500 mg of ethosuximide daily.
- Outcome measures included clinical tremor rating scales (TCRS), accelerometric recordings, and self-reported disability scores.
Main Results:
- No significant improvements were observed in clinical tremor scores, accelerometry, or disability assessments.
- Two patients discontinued the trial due to adverse effects, including anxiety, nervousness, headache, and dizziness.
- No patient opted to continue ethosuximide treatment post-trial.
Conclusions:
- Ethosuximide demonstrated a lack of efficacy and an unfavorable side effect profile in this exploratory study for essential tremor (ET).
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