Incomitancy investigation Flashcards
what is incomitancy
Strabismus which varies in size with position of gaze
list 4 things about incomitancy
- Manifest or latent
if latent in primary position often becomes larger or manifest as eyes move into other positions of gaze - Congenital or acquired in aetiology
- Unilateral or bilateral (unilateral more common)
- Angle may vary with the eye used for fixation
how must you monitor a px whose latent in primary position but becomes manifest as their eyes move into other positions of gaze
monitor the change with a prism bar
describe the incomitancy in a 6th nerve palsy
- Right gaze, eyes are straight with binocular single vision (BSV)
- Left gaze diplopia due to left esotropia
- The angle measured in left side gaze compared to primary position is larger than the angle you would measure in right gaze
give an example of a condition and describe what it is, where incomitancy effects the vertical muscle
- Brown’s syndrome
- Caused by the shortening of the SO tendon
- When px looks upward in adduction, the short SO prevents the eye from elevating
- So px ends up with a large vertical deviation which doesn’t occur in down gaze
when may incomitancy be present in congenital cases and why
- may present at any age, not always starting from birth, can even come during 20’s - 30’s or first 6 months
- due to some sort of neurogenic problem from 3rd, 4th or 6th nerve
what will you do if you see a patient with a congenital incomitancy
depending on signs and symptoms may refer to HES
what is acquired incomitancy and what is it associated with
- when the incomitancy comes suddenly
- associated with neurological damage and significant medico-legal implications who may require medical intervention and intervention to manage the squint in the long run
what will you do if you see a patient with an acquired incomitancy
referral is essential
what is the aetiology of incomitancy classified as and what 4 are these
- classified according to the underlying cause:
- Neurogenic (strabismus due to nerve lesion)
or - Myogenic (lesion directly affecting the muscle)
or - Mechanical (lesion within the orbital that interferes with muscle action)
or - Congenital or acquired incomitant squint
what is a neurogenic cause of a incomitancy also known as
- Also known as paralytic
- paralysis – total failure of nerve; paresis – partial failure; palsy covers both
list 4 possible places lesions can occur with a neurogenic incomitancy
- infranuclear
- nuclear
- internuclear
- supra nuclear
a neurogenic incomitancy can be __________ or __________
a neurogenic incomitancy can be congenital or acquired
list 4 acquired causes of a neurogenic incomitancy
- vascular - hypertension, diabetes, aneurysm
- head trauma – road traffic accident, falls from horse
- tumour - intracranial
- inflammation – meningitis, encephalitis, multiple sclerosis
at which distance does a LR palsy affect more and why
- affects abduction more at distance than near
- because our LR aren’t very involved in focussing at near
what is the most common type of classification of acquired aetiology of incomitancy and name an example of a condition
- Myogenic (lesion directly affecting the muscle)
- Myasthenia gravis
what effect to the muscle does a mechanical lesion cause and name examples of some conditions that cause this to happen
- Lease or tether effect
- Acquired – thyroid eye disease, orbital bone fractures, space-occupying lesion within orbit
what is the common aetiology of a congenital incomitancy
commonly is developmental failure affecting muscle / tendon
what is the common aetiology of a acquired incomitancy
abnormality of nerve
why do we need to investigate the signs of an incomitancy
to see if we can manage for the long term, or if the patient needs a hospital investigation
what is seeing the signs of muscle sequelae important for
understanding and diagnosis of incomitant strabismus
whats is Hering’s law
Equal and simultaneous contraction of contralateral synergist muscles (related to both eyes)
what is Sherrington’s law
Agonist muscle contracts with equal and simultaneous relaxation of direct antagonist (same eye)
list the muscle sequelae for a RSO under action
- Primary muscle underaction (RSO)
- Overaction (contracture) of contralateral synergist (LIR)
- Overaction (contracture) of direct antagonist (RIO)
- Secondary inhibitional palsy of antagonist to contralateral synergist (LSR)
which stages of muscle sequelae don’t need emergency care
later stages - which indicates it was long standing
with which 2 classifications of aetiology does a full muscle sequelae develop with time
neurogenic and myogenic incomitance
what is difficult to differentiate with a congenital muscle sequelae
primary from secondary palsy e.g. SO vs SR
how far does a muscle sequelae usually go with a mechanical aetiology
just up till the first stage, wont see much of a secondary stage
describe three characteristics of a RLR under action which may be due to a 6th nerve trauma
- Esophoria/esotropia, worse on distance fixation and in direction of action of RLR– i.e. to RT
- Horizontal diplopia worse in dextroversion (gaze towards the RHS)
- also >FR since recently acquired (secondary deviation)
you get a big squint with the affected eye in recent muscle sequelae