Essential tremor (ET) is the most common movement disorder and betablockers are still consideres the first line of treatment. The aim of our study is to report the clinical response to long action propranolol (LAP) of 40 patients diagnosed with essential tremor with no previous treatment. METHOD: 40 patients with ET were evaluated with rating scales for severity of tremor and clinical classification of ET. All patients were evaluated at least twice, at enlrollment and one month after starting treatment. RESULTS: thirty-six patients (90%) had type 2 ET and types 3 and 4 ocurred in two patients each (10%). Familiar history was positive in 25 patients (62.5%). Mean age at first evaluation was 43.1 years and mean age at onset was 27.4 years. Of all patients, 33 (82.5%) had some degree of benefit and in 52,5 % this benefit was either good or excelent. CONCLUSION: LAP seems to be a good treatment option for ET in our series of 40 patients.
essential tremor; treatment; long action propranolol
