Transcript Document
NYSTAGMUS
AETIOPATHOGENESIS
TYPES AND CLINICAL FEATURES
SPEAKER : KUMAR SAURABH
HISTORICAL OVERVIEW
Nystazho{Greek} Wobbly head movements
of a sleepy or inebriated
individual.
DEFINITIONS
Nystagmus : Involuntary,biphasic,rhythmic ocular
oscillation which can be either physiological or
pathological.
Pursuit
: Slow and smooth movements of the eyes to follow a
moving target in the environment.
Saccade
: Rapid jerky movement of the eyes to bring back the
image of the target on to the fovea.
CLASSIFICATION
AETIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION
Nystagmus
Physiological
End gaze
Optokinetic
Vestibulo-ocular reflex
Pathological
Congenital
Infantile manifest
Infantile Latent
Infantile Manifest-latent
Acquired
Toxic
Neurological
Visual loss
Functional
BASED ON MANIFESTATION
Manifest
Latent
Manifest-latent
BASED ON PATTERN OF MOVEMENT
Jerk
Pendular
BASED ON DIRECTION OF MOVEMENT
Horizontal
Vertical
Rotary
PATHOGENESIS OF NYSTAGMUS
SIX LEVELS OF OCULAR MOTOR SYSTEM
1.
UPPER MOTOR NEURON
(Cerebral cortex)
4.
CEREBELLUM
2.
PRE-MOTOR NEURONS
(Brain stem)
3.
LOWER MOTOR NEURON
(Ocular motor neuron,
Neuromascular junction)
5.
VESTIBULAR NUCLEUS
6.
EXTRAOCULAR MUSCLES
Upper Motor Neuron
Lesion
(Supranuclear)
Lower Motor
Neuron
(Infranuclear)
Nystagmus
Gaze palsy
Involuntary eye movements
Paralytic strabismus
CORTICAL CENTRES FOR MOTOR CONTROL
PURSUIT SACCADE
Occipital motor area Frontal eye field (FEF)
Middle temporal area (MT)
Middle superior temporal area (MST)
Supplementary eye field (SEF)
Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC)
Posterior eye field (PEF)
BRAINSTEM CENTRES FOR MOTOR CONTROL
(Saccade+Pursuit)
HORIZONTAL GAZE CENTRE
VERTICAL GAZE CENTRE
PARAMEDIAN PONTINE
ROSTRAL INTERSTITIAL
RETICULAR FORMATION
NUCLEUS OF
(PPRF)
MEDIAL LONGITUDINAL
FASCICULUS (riMLF)
CLINICAL FEATURES
GENERAL SYMPTOMS :
To-and-fro Movement of Eyes.
Reduced Visual Acuity.
Blurred or Unstable Vision.
Oscillopsia : At >8 years of age.
GENERAL SIGNS :
Repetitive movements of eyes.
• Binocular or monocular
• Direction
• Waveform
• Effect of gaze
• Conjugate or dysconjugate
• Any change with change in posture.
• Periodicity
• Any associated movement.
JERK NYSTAGMUS
• Slow defoveating drift
• Fast refoveating saccade
• Direction – Fast component
• Horizontal,vertical or rotatory
• Gaze evoked : Vestibular
• Gaze paretic : Brain stem damage
PENDULAR NYSTAGMUS
•Sinusoidal,nonsaccadic
•Slow and equal velocities
•Congenital or acquired
•Horizontal,vertical,elliptical,torsional
•Involvement of pontine tegmentum mainly
•Special types :--
CONVERGENT-DIVERGENT
NYSTAGMUS
Dysconjugate
Horizontal in opposite direction
Demyelinating disease
CYCLOVERGENT
NYSTAGMUS
Dysconjugate
Torsional
Upper poles move in opposite direction.
PHYSIOLOGICAL NYSTAGMUS
END POINT NYSTAGMUS
Jerk nystagmus
On looking extreme lateral or upwards
Angle of gaze > 45 degrees
VESTIBULAR NYSTAGMUS
Jerk nystagmus
Altered inputs from vestibular nuclei to PPRF
Demonstrated by Caloric Test
Cold water – Opposite direction
Warm water – Same direction
Cold water in both ears – Upwards
Warm water in both ears -- Downwards
OPTOKINETIC NYSTAGMUS
Jerk nystagmus
Induced by moving a full visual field stimulus
Slow phase (Pursuit): Eye follows the target
Fast phase (Saccade): Eye fixates on the next target
Used for– Detecting malingerers
Testing visual acuity in young
PATHOLOGICAL NYSTAGMUS
UPBEAT NYSTAGMUS
Jerk nystagmus with fast phase upwards.
Defect : Anterior semicircular canal projections.
Lesion:Pontomedullary or pontomesencephalic
junctions.
Amplitude increases on upgaze and supine posture.
Causes : Wernicke’s encephalopathy,
Organophosphates and anticonvulsants,
Lithium,Nicotine,Thallium.
DOWNBEAT NYSTAGMUS
Jerk nystagmus with fast phase downwards.
Defect : Posterior semicircular canal projections.
Lesion : Commissural fibers between vestibular nuclei.
Flocculus at the craniocervical junction.
Amplitude increases with lateral and downward gaze { Daroff's sign }
May be visible only with change of posture viz. head hanging.
Causes: Chiary malformation Type I,
Foramen magnum tumors,
Alcoholism,
Amiodarone,toluene,anticonvulsants
Magnesium depletion,
Vitamin B12 deficiency.
SEESAW NYSTAGMUS (SSN)
Pendular nystagmus.
One eye rises and intorts;other eye falls and extorts.
Lesion : Midbrain-thalamic junction.
Faster and smaller on upgaze;
Slower and larger on down gaze.
Ceases in darkness.
Acquired SSN: Suprasellar tumors,
Leigh’s syndrome,
Jobert’s syndrome
Congenital SSN : Achiasmia.
GAZE EVOKED NYSTAGMUS
Jerk nystagmus.
Absent in primary gaze.
Appears on eccentric gaze.
Fast phase in the direction of gaze.
3-8 beats/second ,coarse.
Defect in neural integrator.
Causes : Old age, Alcohol intoxication,
Cerebellar or brain stem disease,
Barbiturates.
GAZE PARETIC NYSTAGMUS
Jerk nystagmus.
Most common nystagmus.
Absent in primary position.
Appears on eccentric gaze.
Fast phase in the direction of gaze.
1-2 beats/second, symmetrical or asymmetrical.
Causes : Brain stem damage at pontine level.
PERIODIC ALTERNATING NYSTAGMUS
Horizontal jerk nystagmus.
Present in primary position.
Crescendo-decrescendo fashion.
During transition nystagmus stops or beats vertically.
90 + 90 = 180 seconds or 3 minutes (approximately).
May be congenital or acquired.
Lesion : Damage to the craniocervical junction.
REBOUND NYSTAGMUS
Horizontal gaze evoked nystagmus.
Nystagmus beats transiently in opposite
direction after return to primary position.
( 3 – 25 seconds ).
BRUN’S NYSTAGMUS
Jerk nystagmus.
Bilateral, asymmetrical.
On the side of lesion :Large amplitude,low frequency oscillations.
On the opposite side :Small amplitude,high frequency oscillations.
Cause : Large cerebello-pontine angle tumor.
EPISODIC NYSTAGMUS
Paroxysmal episodes of ataxia, vertigo and nystagmus.
Lasting up to 24 hours.
Causes :Inborn errors of metabolism
Basilar migraine
Multiple sclerosis
ICTAL NYSTAGMUS
Occurs during refractory seizures.
Mostly horizontal ; may be vertical.
Generally directed opposite to the site of epileptogenic focus.
LID NYSTAGMUS
Rhythmic jerky movements of the upper eye lid.
Conditions when lid nystagmus occurs:
Synchronous with vertical nystagmus
Synchronous with fast phase of gaze evoked nystagmus.
Midbrain tumors.
During voluntary convergence in cerebellar disease
CONGENITAL NYSTAGMUS
Pendular or jerk type.
Pendular nystagmus often becomes jerk on lateral gaze.
Mostly horizontal,rarely vertical.
Increased amplitude on vertical tracking and distant fixation.
Decreased amplitude on convergence.
Increased amplitude when one eye is covered (Latent superimposition).
May be minimal at a particular point of gaze (Null zone).
Reversal of optokinetic response is characteristic.
FEATURES OF CONGENITAL NYSTAGMUS
Present at birth but may be detected later.
Good vision unless there is an afferent defect.
No oscillopsia.
Head titubation may be seen.
Causes :Autosomal recessive or X linked.
Achiasmia,
Achromatopsia,
Albinism,
Aniridia,
Congenital cataract
Retinopathy of prematurity,
Optic nerve hypoplasia.
MANIFEST NYSTAGMUS
Nystagmus present with binocular vision.
LATENT NYSTAGMUS
No nystagmus with binocular vision.
Nystagmus with monocular fixation with other eye covered.
Slow phase is directed towards covered eye.
Amplitude increases with abduction of fixating eye.
MANIFEST LATENT NYSTAGMUS
Nystagmus present with binocular vision.
Amplitude increases when one eye is covered.
SPASMUS NUTANS
Transient pendular nystagmus.
High frequency, low amplitude.
Horizontal, vertical or torsional.
Dysconjugate and asymmetrical.
May be monocular.
Spasmus Nutans Triad : Nystagmus, Torticollis, Titubation.
Onset : 6 – 12 months
Duration : Up to 2 years; maximum 5 years of age.
Causes : Glioma of anterior visual pathway
Empty sella syndrome
Porencephalic cyst.
NYSTAGMOID MOVEMENTS
OCULAR FLUTTER
Horizontal and conjugate movements.
Intermittent bursts of back-to-back saccades.
Triggered by change of posture.
Aggravated by attempt at fixation.
Defect : Loss of pause cell inhibition of burst neurons at PPRF.
OPSOCLONUS
Multivector saccadic eye movements.
Spontaneous, chaotic but conjugate movements.
Aggravated by attempt at fixation.
May be associated with myoclonic jerks of limbs
and cerebellar ataxia.
{ Dancing feet-dancing eye syndrome }
Cause :Viral encephalitis,
Multiple carboxylase deficiency,
Hyperosmolar coma,
Multiple sclerosis,
Neuroblastoma.
CONVERGENT RETRACTION NYSTAGMUS
Dysmetric horizontal eye movement upon
attempted upward saccade.
Rapid convergence with retraction of both globes.
Followed by slow divergent movement.
Cause : Co-contraction of extraocular muscles.
Seen in : Dorsal midbrain ( Perinaud’s ) syndrome.
OCULAR BOBBING
Rapid downward movement of both eyes.
Followed by slow drift back to primary position.
Seen in : Comatose patients.
OCULAR MYOCLONUS
Vertical pendular oscillations.
Frequency : 160 Hz.
Associated with similar oscillations of soft palate.
{ Oculopalatal syndrome }
Cause : Infarction at the pons.
VOLUNTARY NYSTAGMUS
Ocular flutter under voluntary control.
Usually horizontal.
May be vertical, torsional or cycloid.
Patient converges to initiate the ‘nystagmus’.
Can be sustained up to 30 seconds.
Familial inheritance.