Nystagmus by yehia matter

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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