Botulinum toxin treatment for essential palatal tremors presenting with nasal clicks instead of pulsatile tinnitus: a case report

BACKGROUND: In this study, we report a rare case of an adult patient with essential palatal tremors (EPT) presenting as nasal clicks, instead of otic clicks or objective pulsatile tinnitus in common EPT. CASE PRESENTATION: Nasal endoscopic examination and EMG recordings of the soft palate muscles were performed to confirm the source of the clicks. Initial treatment with lidocaine provided symptomatic relief for four hours. The patient was then treated with four simultaneous injections of 12.5 U of botulinum toxin in four different sites of the soft palate. Palatal tremors and clicks completely disappeared within three months of treatment. CONCLUSIONS: To our knowledge, this is the first case of EPT that presented with nasal clicks. We recommend that otolaryngologists should expect this rare occurrence in the clinical setting, and handle patients presenting with such symptoms with care and compassion in order not to worsen their psychological status. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13005-016-0129-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.