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A pilot, double‐blind, placebo‐controlled trial of pregabalin (Lyrica) in the treatment of essential tremor
Author(s) -
Zesiewicz Theresa A.,
Ward Christopher L.,
Hauser Robert A.,
Salemi Jason L.,
Siraj Shaila,
Wilson MariaCarmen,
Sullivan Kelly L.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
movement disorders
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.352
H-Index - 198
eISSN - 1531-8257
pISSN - 0885-3185
DOI - 10.1002/mds.21629
Subject(s) - placebo , tolerability , pregabalin , essential tremor , medicine , adverse effect , rating scale , anesthesia , randomized controlled trial , double blind , physical therapy , physical medicine and rehabilitation , psychology , surgery , developmental psychology , alternative medicine , pathology
Abstract We performed a pilot, double‐blind, placebo‐controlled, randomized trial to evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of pregabalin (PGB, Lyrica), an antiepileptic agent, in treating essential tremor (ET). Twenty two patients with ET were randomly assigned to receive PGB or placebo. PGB was initiated at 50 mg/day and was escalated by 75 mg/day every 4 days to a maximum dose of 600 mg/day. Patients were evaluated by accelerometry and the Fahn–Tolosa–Marin (FTM) rating scale. There was a significant reduction in tremor amplitude in the PGB group compared with the placebo group, as measured by accelerometry, at a mean dose of 286.76 ± 100.05 mg/day. Action tremor limb scores on the FTM also improved in the PGB group compared with the placebo group ( P ‐value for multilevel modeling = 0.04). PGB was fairly well tolerated, with about one‐third of patients dropping out of the study because of adverse events. PGB provided significant improvements in accelerometry and in action tremor limb scores on the FTM. However, larger studies are needed to further evaluate the potential effect of PGB on ET. © 2007 Movement Disorder Society