Abstract
Background
The purpose was to assess intra- and post-saccadic torsion in superior oblique palsy (SOP) patients and the effect of surgery on torsion.
Methods
Eleven patients with a presumed congenital SOP and five with acquired SOP performed 10° vertical saccades over a range of ±20°. Eye movements were recorded with dual search coils. Dynamic torsion was calculated by subtracting the expected change in torsion during the saccade (based upon static torsion before and after the saccade) from the maximum intrasaccadic torsion. Eight healthy subjects were controls. We also examined the effects of surgery on dynamic torsion and the orientation of Listing’s plane in patients with congenital SOP who were operated on either by weakening of the inferior oblique muscle on the affected eye (n = 5), by recession of the inferior rectus muscle on the normal eye (n = 4) or by both procedures (n = 2). Postoperative recordings were obtained at least 1 month after surgery.
Results
Patients with congenital and acquired SOP showed an increased dynamic extorsion, primarily during downward saccades. Following a recession of the inferior oblique muscle in congenital SOP patients, half showed significant decreases in extorsion (up to 1.0°) during downward saccades by the affected eye. Following surgery all showed a temporal rotation of Listing’s plane (up to 15° for primary position).
Conclusion
Patients with a SOP show a characteristic pattern of dynamic torsion during vertical saccades differing from normals. Recession of the inferior oblique muscle leads to rotation of Listing’s plane in all congenital SOP patients and causes large changes in dynamic torsion in a subgroup of them, perhaps reflecting the heterogeneity of congenital SOP.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Noorden von GK (1996) Binocular vision and ocular motility, 5th edn. St. Mosby, St. Louis pp 411–414
Helveston EM, Krach D, Plager DA, Ellis FD (1992) A new classification of superior oblique palsy based on congenital variations in the tendon. Ophthalmology 10:1609–1615
Plager DA (1992) Tendon laxity in superior oblique palsy. Ophthalmology 99:1032–1038
Clark RA, Miller JM, Demer JL (1998) Displacement of the medial rectus pulley in superior oblique palsy. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 39:207–212
Straumann D, Steffen H, Landau K, Bergamin O, Mudgil AV, Walker MF, Guyton DL, Zee DS (2003) Primary position and listing’s law in acquired and congenital trochlear nerve palsy. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 44:4282–4292
Migliaccio AA, Cremer PD, Aw ST, Halmagyi GM (2004) Vergence-mediated changes in Listing’s plane do not occur in an eye with superior oblique palsy. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 45:3043–3047
Wong AM, Sharpe JA, Tweed D (2002) Adaptive neural mechanism for listing’s law revealed in patients with fourth nerve palsy. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 43:1796–1803
Steffen H, Walker MW, Zee DS (2000) Rotation of Listing’s plane with convergence: independence from eye position. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 41:715–721
Straumann D, Zee DS, Solomon D, Lasker AG, Roberts DC (1994). Transient torsion during and after saccades. Vision Res 35:3321–3334
Bergamin O, Ramat S, Straumann D, Zee DS (2004) Influence of orientation of exiting wire of search coil annulus on torsion following saccades. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 45:131–137
Lee C, Zee DS, Straumann D (2000) Saccades from torsional offset positions back to Listing planes. J Neurophysiol 83:3241–3253
Robinson DA (1970) Oculomotor unit behaviour in the monkey. J Neurophysiol 33:393–404
Seidmann SH, Leigh JR, Tomsak RL, Grant MP, Dell’ Osso LF (1995) Dynamic properties of the human ocular reflex during head rotations in roll. Vision Res 35:679–689
Yalcin B, Ozan H (2004) Insertion pattern of the inferior oblique muscle. Am J Ophthalmol 139:504–508
Demer JL (2006) Current concepts of mechanical and neural factors in ocular motility. Curr Opin Neurol 19:4–13
Demer JL, Oh SY, Clark RA, Poukens V (2003) Evidence for a pulley of the inferior oblique muscle. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 44:3856–3865
Demer JL, Ortube MC, Engle EC, Thacker N (2006) High-resolution magnetic resonance imaging demonstrates abnormalities of motor nerves and extraocular muscles in patients with neuropathic strabismus. J AAPOS 10:135–142
Kono R, Demer JL (2003) Magnetic resonance imaging of the functional anatomy of the inferior oblique muscle in superior oblique palsy. Ophthalmology 110:1219–1229
Fink WH (1962) Surgery of the vertical muscles of the eye, 2nd edn. Thomas, Springfield pp.48–52
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
This study was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft DFG 860/2-1, Bonn Germany, Grant EYO1489, from the National Institute of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, the Abe Pollin scholarship fund, Swiss National Science Foundation Grant 3200B0-105434 and the Betty and David Koetser Foundation for Brain Research, Zurich, Switzerland.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Steffen, H., Straumann, D.S., Walker, M.F. et al. Torsion in patients with superior oblique palsies: dynamic torsion during saccades and changes in Listing’s plane. Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol 246, 771–778 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00417-007-0622-5
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00417-007-0622-5