Occurrence of oculomotor dysfunctions in acquired brain injury: A retrospective analysis
Abstract
Background
The purpose of this retrospective study was to determine the frequency of occurrence of oculomotor dysfunctions in a sample of ambulatory outpatients who have acquired brain injury (ABI), either traumatic brain injury (TBI) or cerebrovascular accident (CVA), with associated vision symptoms.
Methods
Medical records of 220 individuals with either TBI (n = 160) or CVA (n = 60) were reviewed retrospectively. This was determined by a computer-based query spanning the years 2000 through 2003, for the frequency of occurrence of oculomotor dysfunctions including accommodation, version, vergence, strabismus, and cranial nerve (CN) palsy.
Results
The majority of individuals with either TBI (90%) or CVA (86.7%) manifested an oculomotor dysfunction. Accommodative and vergence deficits were most common in the TBI subgroup, whereas strabismus and CN palsy were most common in the CVA subgroup. The frequency of occurrence of versional deficits was similar in each diagnostic subgroup.
Conclusion
These new findings should alert the clinician to the higher frequency of occurrence of oculomotor dysfunctions in these populations and the associated therapeutic, rehabilitative, and quality-of-life implications.
State University of New York State College of Optometry, Raymond J. Greenwald Rehabilitation Center, New York, New York.
Corresponding author: Kenneth J. Ciuffreda, O.D., Ph.D., Department of Vision Sciences, SUNY/State College of Optometry, Raymond J. Greenwald Rehabilitation Center, 33 West 42nd Street, New York, New York 10036.
ABSTRACT