Abstract | OBJECTIVE: CASE SUMMARY: DISCUSSION:
Essential tremor is a common neurologic disorder with uncertain pathophysiology. Practice guidelines advocate the use of propranolol or primidone as first-line agents to treat essential tremor. Unfortunately, primidone has abuse potential and propranolol has variable pharmacokinetics; these characteristics limit their effectiveness in treating tremor. Our patient experienced a significant and sustained improvement in her tremor following the initiation of oxcarbazepine. To our knowledge, as of September 2, 2006, this is the first report of the use of oxcarbazepine in essential tremor. While the exact therapeutic action remains unclear, oxcarbazepine offers significant advantages compared with current first-line agents, including its good tolerability profile, the extended half-life of its metabolite, and lack of abuse potential. CONCLUSIONS: We report a case of essential tremor responding to oxcarbazepine. This drug offers several potential advantages over current first-line agents. Further research is warranted to test the robustness of this preliminary finding.
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Authors | Vidya Raj, Jacqueline S Landess, Peter R Martin |
Journal | The Annals of pharmacotherapy
(Ann Pharmacother)
Vol. 40
Issue 10
Pg. 1876-9
(Oct 2006)
ISSN: 1542-6270 [Electronic] United States |
PMID | 16968828
(Publication Type: Case Reports, Journal Article, Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural)
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Chemical References |
- Carbamazepine
- Propranolol
- Oxcarbazepine
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Topics |
- Adult
- Carbamazepine
(analogs & derivatives, therapeutic use)
- Essential Tremor
(diagnosis, drug therapy)
- Female
- Humans
- Oxcarbazepine
- Propranolol
(therapeutic use)
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