Hand and ECG tremor in spinal muscular atrophy.

The presence of hand and electrocardiogram (ECG) tremor was studied in 31 children with severe, intermediate, or mild form of spinal muscular atrophy. Clinical tremor of the hands was seen in 16 (59%) of 27 patients, all with benign forms of the disease. Nineteen patients had ECG tremors, of whom 17 had the mild or intermediate form. With the exception of one, all patients in the mild or intermediate group had hand or ECG tremor. Hand and ECG tremor are valuable in the diagnosis of the benign forms of spinal muscular atrophy; they are of no value in diagnosis of the severe infantile type.