Rest tremor revisited: Parkinson’s disease and other disorders

Wei Chen, Franziska Hopfner, Jos Steffen Becktepe, Günther Deuschl

Tremor is the most common movement disorder characterized by a rhythmical, involuntary oscillatory movement of a body part. Since distinct diseases can cause similar tremor manifestations and vice-versa, it is challenging to make an accurate diagnosis. This applies particularly for tremor at rest. This entity was only rarely studied in the past, although a multitude of clinical studies on prevalence and clinical features of tremor in Parkinson's disease (PD), essential tremor and dystonia, have been carried out. Monosymptomatic rest tremor has been further separated from tremor-dominated PD. Rest tremor is also found in dystonic tremor, essential tremor with a rest component, Holmes tremor and a few even rarer conditions. Dopamine transporter imaging and several electrophysiological methods provide additional clues for tremor differential diagnosis. New evidence from neuroimaging and electrophysiological studies has broadened our knowledge on the pathophysiology of Parkinsonian and non-Parkinsonian tremor. Large cohort studies are warranted in future to explore the nature course and biological basis of tremor in common tremor related disorders.