Skip Navigation
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences

Use this QR code to view the newest version of this document
Use this QR code to view the newest version of this document

Your Environment. Your Health.

Publication Detail

Title: Atrophy of the Cerebellar Vermis in Essential Tremor: Segmental Volumetric MRI Analysis.

Authors: Shin, Hyeeun; Lee, Dong-Kyun; Lee, Jong-Min; Huh, Young-Eun; Youn, Jinyoung; Louis, Elan D; Cho, Jin Whan

Published In Cerebellum, (2016 Apr)

Abstract: Postmortem studies of essential tremor (ET) have demonstrated the presence of degenerative changes in the cerebellum, and imaging studies have examined related structural changes in the brain. However, their results have not been completely consistent and the number of imaging studies has been limited. We aimed to study cerebellar involvement in ET using MRI segmental volumetric analysis. In addition, a unique feature of this study was that we stratified ET patients into subtypes based on the clinical presence of cerebellar signs and compared their MRI findings. Thirty-nine ET patients and 36 normal healthy controls, matched for age and sex, were enrolled. Cerebellar signs in ET patients were assessed using the clinical tremor rating scale and International Cooperative Ataxia Rating Scale. ET patients were divided into two groups: patients with cerebellar signs (cerebellar-ET) and those without (classic-ET). MRI volumetry was performed using CIVET pipeline software. Data on whole and segmented cerebellar volumes were analyzed using SPSS. While there was a trend for whole cerebellar volume to decrease from controls to classic-ET to cerebellar-ET, this trend was not significant. The volume of several contiguous segments of the cerebellar vermis was reduced in ET patients versus controls. Furthermore, these vermis volumes were reduced in the cerebellar-ET group versus the classic-ET group. The volume of several adjacent segments of the cerebellar vermis was reduced in ET. This effect was more evident in ET patients with clinical signs of cerebellar dysfunction. The presence of tissue atrophy suggests that ET might be a neurodegenerative disease.

PubMed ID: 26062905 Exiting the NIEHS site

MeSH Terms: Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Atrophy/metabolism; Cerebellar Ataxia/physiopathology; Cerebellar Vermis/physiopathology*; Essential Tremor/physiopathology*; Female; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Imaging/methods; Male; Middle Aged

Back
to Top