Olfaction and essential tremor

Abstract

-Objective:To characterize the olfactory identification in 40 essential tremor (ET) patients, with the University of Pennsylvania 12 Smell Identification Test (UPSIT), to correlate UPSIT scores to clinical and epidemiological data and to compare it to 89 aged matched controls. Method: Patients were assessed using ET Clinical Scale of Evaluation and UPSIT. Results: In patients with ET, the UPSIT medium score was 9.10, similar to the control group (9.11), which was also observed in all age groups. ET severity did not correlate to UPSIT scores. Conclusion: This study demonstrated normality of olfactory identification on ET, qualifying UPSIT to be an important tool on tremor differential diagnosis of undetermined origin.KEy wordS: essential tremor, olfaction, UPSIT. Olfato no tremor essencialResumo -Objetivo: Caracterizar a identificação olfatória em 40 pacientes com tremor essencial, através do Teste de Identificação de 12 Cheiros da Universidade de Pensilvânia (TICUP), correlacioná-la aos dados clínicos e epidemiológicos e compará-la com 89 indivíduos normais. Método: os pacientes foram avaliados com a Escala Clínica de Avaliação do TE e com o TICUP. Resultados: A média de acertos no TICUP nos pacientes com TE foi 9,10, semelhante à do grupo controle (9,11), sendo isso observado em todas as faixas etárias. A gravidade do TE não se correlacionou com o resultado do TICUP. Conclusão: Este estudo demonstrou normalidade da identificação olfatória no TE, qualificando o TICUP como ferramenta importante no diagnóstico diferencial dos tremores de causa indeterminada.PAlAvrAS-ChAvE: tremor essencial, olfato, TICUP.

Essential tremor: diagnosis and management

“…This finding was independent of cognitive impairment as assessed by the mini-mental state examination 52. However, other studies report normal UPSIT scores in patients with essential tremor 53. A study matching essential tremor patients, Parkinson’s disease patients, and controls found impairment in Parkinson’s disease patients but no difference between the essential tremor patients and controls 54.…”

Increased Prevalence of Non-Motor Symptoms in Essential Tremor

“…Most studies have not found hyposmia in ET patients,12,13,39 whereas other studies have shown a small diminution of olfaction,10,11,40,41 albeit to a lesser degree than in PD patients. The number that we found may be an underestimate since decreased olfactory function is likely often subclinical 10,11,40,41…”

“…Amongst the studies that evaluated olfaction in ET patients, some have found a decrease,10,11 although others did not 12–14. The co-occurrence of ET and depression has been observed with a high frequency 15–18.…”

Essential Tremor: A Neurodegenerative Disease?

“…Mild olfactory dysfunction has been detected in ET patients in several studies,20,95 but not in others;78,96 when observed, this dysfunction is, on average, milder than that observed in patients with PD 20,95. As in PD, this possible dysfunction does not correlate with disease duration or severity, indicating that it occurs early in the disease process 20…”