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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2018 Aug 13.
Published in final edited form as: Parkinsonism Relat Disord. 2018 Feb 20;51:24–29. doi: 10.1016/j.parkreldis.2018.02.032

Table 3.

Clinical and pathological features of essential tremor cases grouped by family history.

Variables Sporadic ET Familial ET
p value
Liberal criterion Conservative criterion Sporadic ET vs. familial ET liberal criterion Sporadic ET vs. familial ET conservative criterion
n 29 31 26
Age at death (years) 87. ± 4.8 85.6 ± 5.9 85.7 ± 6.1 0.030a 0.208a
Age of tremor onset (years) 48.8 ± 20.3 36.8 ± 21.5 33.6 ± 20.6 0.024b 0.007b
Median = 55.0 Median = 40.0 Median = 33.50
Duration of tremor (years) 38.7 ± 22.1 49.0 ± 20.9 52.3 ± 20.2 0.070a 0.022a
Gender 0.639c 0.825c
 Male 12 (41.4%) 11 (35.5%) 10 (38.5%)
 Female 17 (58.6%) 20 (64.5%) 16 (61.5%)
PC counts 8.6 ± 1.4 9.3 ± 1.3 9.4 ± 1.3 0.107a 0.093a
Torpedo counts 23.2 ± 24.9 31.4 ± 30.6 29.4 ± 32.8 0.348b 0.684b
Median = 15.0 Median = 21.0 Median = 21
CF synaptic density (puncta/100 μm) 18.0 ± 2.1 17.9 ± 2.5 17.9 ± 2.6 0.748b 0.689b
Median = 18.0 Median = 18.0 Median = 17.5
Percentage of CFs extending into the PF territory 28.1 ± 6.8 29.7 ± 6.8 29.4 ± 7.0 0.396a 0.494a

Values represent mean ± standard deviation or number (percentage), and for variables with a non-normal distribution, the median is reported as well. Mean number of PC counts per 100 × microscopic field, among 15 sampled fields. Bolded values are significant (with Bonferroni correction).

Abbreviations: PC: Purkinje cells, CF: climbing fiber, PF: parallel fiber.

a

Independent samples t-test.

b

Independent samples Mann-Whitney U test.

c

Chi-square test.