Palatal tremor

What it means

Palatal tremor (PT) is an involuntary, rhythmic and oscillatory movement of the soft palate. PT is a rare type of tremor involving the soft palate. It can be unilateral or bilateral.

Previously, PT was known as palatal myoclonus but it was subsequently renamed palatal tremor during the First International Congress of Movement Disorders to acknowledge the continuous and rhythmic nature of the palatal movement. Palatal tremors do not oscillate around a point, unlike any other type of tremor. Palatal tremors can have huge variability in frequency, unlike other commonly-described tremors.

Rare diseases that can present with this4

The range is how often this sign appears among people diagnosed with each disease — it is not a probability of having any of them. Many of these signs also occur in common, non-rare conditions. A sign on this page is a conversation to have with a clinician, not a conclusion.

Part of the broader category

Also called: Palatal myoclonus