Tremor after long term lithium treatment; is it cortical myoclonus?

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

Tremor is a common side effect of treatment with lithium. Its characteristics can vary and when less rhythmical, distinction from myoclonus can be difficult.

Methods

We identified 8 patients on long-term treatment with lithium that developed upper limb tremor. All patients were assessed clinically and electrophysiologically, with jerk-locked averaging (JLA) and cross-correlation (CC) analysis, and five of them underwent brain MRI examination including spectroscopy (MRS) of the cerebellum.

Results

Seven patients (6 female) had action and postural myoclonus and one a regular postural and kinetic tremor that persisted at rest. Mean age at presentation was 58 years (range 42-77) after lengthy exposure to lithium (range 7-40 years). During routine monitoring a

SUBMITTER: Sarrigiannis PG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6532190 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature