ABSTRACT
We treated a 3-month-old boy with bilateral congenital oculomotor nerve palsy in whom a magnetic resonance imaging scan demonstrated a developmental brain anomaly in the region of the basal ganglia. The pupil was normal on one side, and there was no aberrant regeneration of the oculomotor nerve. We could find no evidence for a peripheral oculomotor nerve lesion. This demonstrates that congenital oculomotor nerve palsy can be caused by brainstem disease. Embryologically, basal ganglia and oculomotor nuclei develop at the same time, and the Edinger-Westphal nucleus develops later. Thus, pupil sparing does not exclude a central origin for congenital oculomotor nerve palsy.
Subject(s)
Basal Ganglia/abnormalities , Oculomotor Nerve Diseases/congenital , Basal Ganglia/pathology , Humans , Infant , Magnetic Resonance Imaging , Male , Oculomotor Nerve/abnormalities , Oculomotor Nerve/pathology , Oculomotor Nerve Diseases/pathologyABSTRACT
We examined electrophysiologically six children who had had cardiac or respiratory arrests with resultant neurologic and visual damage. Their electroretinograms were initially subnormal, but with time and return of visual acuity the electroretinograms became normal. The subnormal electroretinograms may have reflected transient hypoxic retinal damage.
Subject(s)
Electroretinography , Hypoxia/physiopathology , Retina/physiopathology , Animals , Cats , Child , Heart Arrest/complications , Humans , Hypoxia/etiology , Hypoxia, Brain/complications , Rabbits , Respiratory Insufficiency/complications , Retinal Diseases/etiology , Retinal Diseases/physiopathology , Retinal Vessels/physiopathology , Visual Acuity , Visual Cortex/blood supplyABSTRACT
In recent years, the ophthalmic examination of infants has been of increasing interest to both clinicians and vision researchers. Clinicians have documented a greater risk of retinopathy, strabismus and amblyopia in premature infants, especially those of low birthweight. In addition to the external and retinal examination of the infant eye, a number of clinical tests can help the ophthalmologist to detect visual dysfunction through the evaluation of pupillary responses and ocular motility. Recently, the development of objective techniques (optokinetic nystagmus, forced choice preferential looking, and visually evoked potentials) have not only aided in the detection of ophthalmic disorders in infants; they have contributed to useful definitions of "normal" vision at various ages and to the understanding of factors that influence the pre- and post-gestational development of visual function.
