A pilot, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of pregabalin (Lyrica) in the treatment of essential tremor

Theresa A. Zesiewicz, Christopher L. Ward, Robert A. Hauser, Jason L. Salemi, Shaila Siraj, Maria Carmen Wilson, Kelly L. Sullivan

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

38 Scopus citations

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.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1660-1663
Number of pages4
JournalMovement Disorders
Volume22
Issue number11
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 15 2007
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Essential tremor
  • Lyrica
  • Pregabalin

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Neurology
  • Clinical Neurology

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'A pilot, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of pregabalin (Lyrica) in the treatment of essential tremor'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this