The Effect of Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) for Voice Tremor in a Case of Essential Tremor

Abstract

Patients with voice tremor present with shaking voice which has a frequency of 4-5 Hz in their vocal tract. In most of cases, voice tremor is refractory to conservative treatment such as medication or voice therapy and the symptoms may affect a patient’s quality of life. We experienced a case of voice tremor accompanied by essential tremor of the upper extremities who was treated with bilateral thalamic deep brain stimulation (DBS). The results of an acoustic analysis and laryngeal endoscopic findings showed a partial improvement following unilateral DBS and complete improvement following bilateral DBS. FTRI, Fatr, ATRI, Jitter, Shimmer, vF0, vAm, NHR, sPPQ and sAPQ seemed to be useful parameters of voice tremor. The results suggest that the indication of DBS should be discussed for patients severely affected by voice tremor after considering the patient’s age, accompanying symptoms, backgrounds, occupation and needs.