Clinical Studies In Treatment For Congenital Nystagmus

Objective: Congenital nystagmus, which comes into existence several days after birth, can severely impair visual acuity and visual function of the children. The affected children often take compensatory head- position to dampen or block nystagmus in order to gain better vision. Many methods have been used in clinic to treat nystagmus, such as drugs, prism and contact lens and so on, but none of them have been recognized. In this research we investigate methods of surgical treatment of congenital nystagmus and their effects.Methods: 12 cases of congenital nystagmus aged from 6 to 25 years with or without strabismus, who came to our hospital between 1998～2006, were treated. Of them 8 cases are male, 4 are female. Their average age is 15 years. The head tilt angles vary from 20°to 45°before surgery. Pre- and postoperative examinations: distant and near vision, both eye vision in primary and compensation head position, head tilt angle measured by arc perimetry, and eye deviation measured. Anderson and Parks procedures are used in surgery.Results: 1. Vision of the patients increased from 1 line to 3 lines after operation; 2. Nystagmus disappeared in primary position of 8 cases, dampen in 4 pstients after surgery. 3. 9 patients nearly did not have head tilts, while the rest 3 improve obviously in head tilt. 4. After operation eye deviation disappeared in 10 patients. 5. Follow-up: 10 patients remained satisfactory result while 2 others recessed to some extent in head tilt. It remained stable after 3 months. Conclusions: Congenital nystagmus is a kind of ocular diseases, the origin of which is still unclear. Surgery is the effective method at present. It can raise vision in primary position, and improve compensatory head tilt.