Ataxic arm movements after thalamotomy for Parkinsonian tremor
- 1University Department of Medicine and Department of Neurology, Royal Adelaide Hospital and University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia
- 2Department of Neurosurgery, Royal Adelaide Hospital
- Correspondence to: Professor P D Thompson, University Department of Medicine, Royal Adelaide Hospital, North Terrace, Adelaide, South Australia 5000; philip.thompson{at}adelaide.edu.au
- Received 9 July 2001
- Accepted 23 October 2002
- Revised 12 August 2002
Abstract
Voluntary finger–nose movements of the arm were analysed in six patients undergoing stereotaxic nucleus ventralis intermedius thalamotomy for relief of severe Parkinsonian tremor. In all cases thalamotomy acutely abolished tremor in the contralateral arm. In the early postoperative phase, ataxia of the arm contralateral to the operated side was also seen. Ataxia was transient, lasting between 7 and 21 days postoperatively. This observation suggests that a lesion of the Vim nucleus interrupts cerebellar input to the thalamus, and supports the concept that abnormal cerebellar activity is an important contributor to the generation of tremor in Parkinson’s disease.
Footnotes
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Competing interests: none declared
