Ultrasonography and electrophysiological study of median nerve in patients with essential tremor

PLoS One. 2019 Apr 23;14(4):e0215750. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0215750. eCollection 2019.

Abstract

Essential tremor (ET) is a common movement disorder characterized by postural or kinetic tremor. We aimed to evaluate median nerve enlargement in patients with ET using ultrasonography (USG). Thirty-eight hands from 19 patients with ET and 24 hands from 13 controls underwent nerve conduction studies (NCS) and USG at the wrist. Tremor severity was measured using the Fahn-Tolosa-Marin Tremor Rating Scale (FTM-TRS). The median nerve cross sectional area (mCSA) in USG and NCS parameters were compared using ANCOVA. We evaluated the correlation between mCSA and NCS parameters or FTM-TRS scores using linear regression analysis. mCSA was significantly larger (p<0.001) and NCS parameters were different in two groups. Also, mCSA was negatively correlated with part B and C scores of FTM-TRS (p<0.001 and p = 0.039, respectively). In conclusion, median nerve enlargement with the changes of NCS parameters was observed and correlated with the severity of tremor in patients with ET.

MeSH terms

  • Action Potentials / physiology*
  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Essential Tremor / diagnosis
  • Essential Tremor / pathology*
  • Essential Tremor / physiopathology
  • Female
  • Hand
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Median Nerve / diagnostic imaging
  • Median Nerve / pathology*
  • Median Nerve / physiopathology
  • Middle Aged
  • Muscle, Skeletal / innervation
  • Muscle, Skeletal / physiopathology*
  • Organ Size
  • Prospective Studies
  • Severity of Illness Index
  • Ultrasonography

Grants and funding

The authors received no specific funding for this work.