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The frequency and characteristics of saccadic dysmetria in isolated cerebellar infarction

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Abstract

Objectives

To investigate the frequency and pattern of horizontal saccadic dysmetria in unilateral cerebellar infarction and identify the responsible region for horizontal saccadic dysmetria.

Methods

From the acute stroke registry of Keimyung University Dongsan Medical Center between July 2016 and October 2020, 43 patients with acute unilateral cerebellar infarction were enrolled. Eye movements were recorded during the acute period and the lesion was mapped using MRIcron software for subtraction analysis.

Saccadic dysmetria was marked as hypometric when the gain is < 0.85 and hypermetric when > 1.0.

Results

Among the 43 participants, 30 patients (69.8%) demonstrated saccadic dysmetria. The age was significantly higher in patients with dysmetria (66.87 ± 12.82 vs. 53.54 ± 14.09, p = 0.004). Type of dysmetria showed a significant difference according to the vascular territory of the lesion. The posterior inferior cerebellar artery (PICA) infarction group presented ipsiversive saccadic dysmetria, while the superior cerebellar artery (SCA) group showed contraversive dysmetria (p < 0.001). In the SCA group, the culmen, fastigium, and dentate were the most frequently damaged regions, while the tonsil and inferior semilunar lobule were in the PICA group.

Conclusion

Saccadic dysmetria was observed in a large proportion of cerebellar stroke patients, and the types of saccades were distinctive according to the vascular territory of the lesion.

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Data availability

The datasets generated and analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurology, Keimyung University School of Medicine, 1035 Dalgubeol-Daero, Dalseo-Gu, Daegu, 42601, Republic of Korea

    Sohyeon Kim, Hyun Ah Kim & Hyung Lee

Authors
  1. Sohyeon Kim
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  2. Hyun Ah Kim
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  3. Hyung Lee
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by Sohyeon Kim and Hyun Ah Kim. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Sohyeon Kim, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Hyun Ah Kim or Hyung Lee.

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Ethical approval

This research study was conducted retrospectively from data obtained for clinical purposes. The study complied with the tenets of the Declaration of Helsinki. The protocol was reviewed by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) of the School of Medicine at Keimyung University.

Informed consent

Informed consent was waived by the IRB since the research involves no more than minimal risk to participants and does not adversely affect the rights and welfare of them.

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

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Kim, S., Kim, H.A. & Lee, H. The frequency and characteristics of saccadic dysmetria in isolated cerebellar infarction. Neurol Sci 44, 2097–2102 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-023-06668-1

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