Essential tremor (ET) is one of the most common movement disorders. Epidemiological studies revealed that the prevalence of ET is about 0.9% in the population, rises to 4.6% in those over 65 years of age, and risesto 20% in those over 95 years of age. Patients with ET often have varying degrees of motor impairment or disability, resulting in loss of work capacity and decline in living ability, which causes a serious personal and socio-economic burden. ET is mainly characterized by action tremor of 4-12 Hz in both upper limbs, and the tremor could also involve the head, lower limbs, trunk, and other regions. ET–PLUS may be accompanied by impaired tandem gait, questionable dystonic posturing, mild memory impairment, and other neurological soft signs. There are also non-motor symptoms such as depression, anxiety, and fatigue. Approximately 30%-70% of patients with ET exhibit familial aggregation, most of which are inherited in an autosomal dominant pattern. According to incomplete estimates, there are about six million patients with ET in China.

The Chinese Essential Tremor Registry (CETR) study is a multi-center, national ET cohort study initiated by Xiangya hospital, Central South University. The CETR will provide an online, user-friendly, encrypted registration platform for authorized personnel. The contents of the CETR include demographic information, clinical features of tremor, environmental factors, family history, comorbidities, imaging data, detailed information concerning treatment and prognosis, health-related quality of life, and neuropsychological assessment. The CETR will be helpful in understanding the epidemiological characteristics, environmental factors, genetic factors, genomics, radiomics, clinical features (tremor classification and neurological soft signs, such as impaired tandem gait, questionable dystonic posturing, mild memory impairment, etc.), and the natural history of ET in China. The CETR will also serve as China's ET clinical research platform and resource base for rapid identification and follow-up of potential patients.

Xiangya Hospital was founded in 1906, and is a Class-A, Grade-3 (top level in China) hospital under the direct control of the National Health Commission. It is affiliated to Central South University which is under the direct control of the Ministry of Education. Xiangya Hospital is an important center of clinical diagnosis and treatment, medical education, and scientific and technological innovation. In the early 20th century, Yale alumni created the Yale-China Association. In 1906, American medical doctor Edward H. Hume (1876-1957) was appointed to China by the Yale-China Association and founded Yale Hospital in Xipailou Street, Changsha. In 1914, entrusted by the Hunan provincial government, the Yuqun Society collaborated with the Yale-China Association to set up Xiangya Medical School—the first higher medical education institution that was cofounded by China and the United States. Yale Hospital was renamed “Xiangya Hospital.” “Xiang” is the abbreviation of Hunan Province and “ya” is a transliteration of Yale.

The Subspecialty of Neurodegeneration and Genetic Diseases, Department of Neurology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, is mainly engaged in clinical and basic research of neurodegeneration and genetic diseases such as PD, Alzheimer's disease (AD), Essential tremor (ET), Motor neuron disease (MND), Spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA), Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease, Hereditary spastic paraplegia (SPG), Neuronal intranuclear inclusion disease (NIID), and Huntington's disease (HD). Academic leaders and PI: Prof. Beisha Tang, Prof. Zhuohua Zhang, Prof. Xinxiang Yan, Prof. Lu Shen, Prof. Hong Jiang, Prof. Zhiquan Yang, Prof. Weihua Liao, Prof. Shuo Hu, Associate Prof. Jifeng Guo, Associate Prof. Junling Wang, Prof. Kai Yuan, Prof. Jian Qiu, Prof. Zhonghua Hu, Prof. Jinchen Li, etc.