Neuro-ophthalmologic aspects of multiple sclerosis: Using eye movements as a clinical and experimental tool

Annette Niestroy¹, Janet C Rucker², R John Leigh¹

¹Neurology Service, Louis Stokes Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center and Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA; ²Rush Medical College, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Abstract: Ocular motor disorders are a well recognized feature of multiple sclerosis (MS). Clinical abnormalities of eye movements, early in the disease course, are associated with generalized disability, probably because the burden of disease in affected patients falls on the brainstem and cerebellar pathways, which are important for gait and balance. Measurement of eye movements, especially when used to detect internuclear ophthalmoplegia (INO), may aid diagnosis of MS. Measurement of the ocular following response to moving sinusoidal gratings of specified spatial frequency and contrast can be used as an experimental tool to better understand persistent visual complaints in patients who have suffered optic neuritis. Patients with MS who develop acquired pendular nystagmus often benefit from treatment with gabapentin or memantine.

Keywords: multiple sclerosis, eye movements, ocular motor disorders