Nystagmus is an involuntary back-and-forth or oscillatory movement of the eyes. There are approximately 45 types of nystagmus, which can be classified as physiological or pathological, and by eye movement patterns such as pendular, jerky, or rotatory. Nystagmus can be congenital or acquired and have many causes including defects in vision, blindness, lesions of the vestibular system, brainstem, cerebellum or spinal cord, as well as toxins, medications, and other conditions. Nystagmus affects vision and balance and can impact activities like reading, driving, and sports. While there is no cure, treatments include eye muscle surgery, medications, optics, and ac

2. ?What is Nystagmus
 An involuntary back-and-forth, up-and-
down,
 or oscillatory rhythmical movement of
the eyeballs.
 Many people with this condition suffer from
partial sightedness and some are
considered legally blind.
 There are approximately 45 different types
of nystagmus.

3. Types
 Nystagmus can be classified into two
general types:
Physiological-
Pathological-
 It can also be classified into according eye
movement patterns:
- pendular
-jerky
-rotatory

6. General Types
 Physiological- A normal response that is
induced because of excessive demand or
imbalance in the vestibular or ocular motor
system.
 Pathological- An abnormal response that
occurs spontaneously or appears in an
individual looking at a stationary object.
Congenital (early infancy-6 months)-
)-Acquired (after 6 months

7. Eye Movement Patterns
 Pendular  Jerk (physiological
(congenital or or pathological)
acquired) -characterized by an
-thought to be a FEM in one direction
result of a delay in and a slower
messages to the movement in the
brainstem opposite direction
-characterized by -thought to result
eye movements that from extra input to
are equally paced in the oculomotor
each direction system from the
brainstem.

8. Causes
1- Ocular nystagmus
A. nystagmus due to defective central vision
B. Nystagmus due to blindness
C. Congenital idiopathic nystagmus
D. Spasmus nutans
E. Miners disease

9. 2- vestibular nystagmus :
A. Lesion of labyrinth
B. Lesion of vestibular nerve
3- central nystagmus due to lesion of :
A. Brain stem
B. Cerebellum
C. Spinal cord

10. 4-Toxic/metabolic
A. Alcohol intoxication
B. Amphetamines
C. Barbiturates Benzodiazepines
D. Ketamine
E. Phenytoin
5-other
A. Aniridia
B. Brain tumors "Medulloblastoma, Astrocytoma"
C. Head trauma
D. Lateral medullary syndrome

12. Effects of Nystagmus
 Nystagmus affects people in different ways.
 The most significant effect is the reduced visual acuity
and binocular vision.
 Factors such as stress, tiredness, and nervousness
can cause changes in ability to focus.
 Distance visual acuity is poorer than near vision.
 Balance may be affected due to poor depth
perception or due to vestibular problems.
 Head nodding is common. Also, most sufferers have
a null point where eye movement decreases and
vision improves

13. Social Impact
 One major difficulty individuals suffering from
nystagmus face is the lack of knowledge about the
disorder, from the outside community.
 In conversation, sufferers with involuntary head
movement may cause people to think they are
disagreeing with what they are saying.
 Reading speed is likely to be affected because of
the extra time and effort it takes to scan words.
 Some people are unable to get their driver’s
license. “alcohol”
 People with the disorder find it difficult to play
sports, especially those involving good hand to
eye coordination.

14. Treatment
 At the moment, there is no cure for nystagmus.
 Many treatments have been tried, but the success
varies from person to person.
 Some of the treatments include eye muscle
surgery, anti parkinsonian drugs , Baclofen ,
Gabapentin , optical and acupuncture.
 In a medical journal, it was recorded that tenotomy
of the horizontal muscles in horizontal nystagmus
with no null point was very effective in improving or
eliminating horizontal eye movement.

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