A childhood case of symptomatic essential and psychogenic palatal tremor

Francesco Margari¹, Giustina Giannella², Paola Alessandra Lecce², Piero Fanizzi³, Maddalena Toto², Lucia Margari^2
1Psychiatry Unit; ²Child Neuropsychiatry Unit, Department of Neurologic and Psychiatry Sciences; ³Otorhinolaryngology Unit, Department of Ophthalmology and Otorhinolaryngology, “Aldo Moro” University of Bari, Bari, Italy

Abstract: Palatal tremor is a rare movement disorder characterized by rhythmic contractions of the soft palate. It is most often symptomatic, secondary to brainstem or cerebellar disease and, in rarer cases, is categorized as essential in the absence of documented brain lesions. There have also been reports in the literature of cases of palatal tremor described as psychogenic because they were associated with psychological or psychiatric disorders. We describe the case of a 12-year-old boy with palatal tremor presenting clinical features of symptomatic essential and psychogenic palatal tremor, thus suggesting a neuropsychopathological continuum between the different forms of disease.

Keywords: palatal tremor, psychogenic movements, child movement disorders