awd-131-138 and Tremor

Idiopathic head tremor syndrome is a paroxysmal movement disorder of unknown etiology. Spontaneous remission may occur, but owners may request treatment in severely affected dogs with continued episodes. Controlled studies of the disease are not available.. A drug with gamma amino butyric acid-ergic and anxiolytic effects will decrease head tremor episodes.. Twenty-four dogs with severe nonremitting head tremor and presumptive clinical diagnosis of idiopathic head tremor syndrome.. Prospective, blinded, placebo-controlled clinical trial to compare imepitoin with placebo in dogs with frequent episodes of idiopathic head tremor. Evaluation of efficacy used the quotient T2/T1 that represented prolongation of the head tremor-free period compared to a 3-month baseline. A dog was considered a responder if tremors subsided or if the head tremor-free period was 3× longer than the longest period during baseline (T2/T1 ≥ 3). Sample size calculations considered a large effect of imepitoin on T2/T1 (Cohen's d = 0.8).. There were no responders in the placebo group (0/12). In the imepitoin group, the responder rate was 17% (2/12; P = .18) with T2/T1 3.8 and 4.0. Mean T2/T1 was 1.0 ± 1.4 in the imepitoin and 0.4 ± 0.4 in the placebo group (P = .37).. Imepitoin did not result in a significant overall benefit. Future studies should focus on treatment of subgroups with a common pathophysiology and similar comorbidities.

Topics: Animals; Anticonvulsants; Dog Diseases; Dogs; Epilepsy; Female; Imidazoles; Male; Prospective Studies; Treatment Outcome; Tremor