What Is Congenital Nystagmus?

Congenital nystagmus (CN) is a congenital eye disease of unknown cause and difficult to treat. It has the following characteristics: Early onset: nystagmus or the onset of onset is unclear at an early age. No swaying vision: that is, there is no swaying in the sight, even if the nystagmus is very serious, there is no swaying in the sight. The involuntary eyeballs continue to swing or beat regularly. Eye movements are unobstructed. No obvious obstacles in daily life: binocular vision and corrected vision are generally above 0.1, and color vision is normal.

Basic Information

English name

congenital nystagmus

English alias

congenital hereditary nystagmus

Visiting department

Ophthalmology

Common causes

Due to dysfunction of fixation reflex or fixation

Common symptoms

Eyeballs continue to beat or sway involuntarily, amblyopia, compensatory head position, etc.

Causes of congenital nystagmus

Most are thought to be due to dysplasia of fixation reflex or fixation function, but the true cause is not yet clear.

Clinical manifestations of congenital nystagmus

Almost both eyes are ill, and most of the eye movements are conjugate. The prominent features of its clinical manifestations are: early onset or time of onset cannot be clearly determined, the eyeballs continue to beat or swing involuntarily, and very few patients have a sense of swaying. Most patients have varying degrees of visual impairment and cannot be corrected. Many patients have side-looking phenomena and compensatory head position, some head shaking, and other compensatory phenomena such as frequent blinking.

1. Involuntary continuous regular nystagmus

Congenital nystagmus nystagmus cannot be controlled automatically, so-called involuntary.

Amblyopia

Multiple binocular (except for monocular or asymmetric congenital nystagmus), if there are no complications such as strabismus or refractive error, the degree of amblyopia in both eyes is similar.

3. Compensation top position

Compensating the head position is mainly manifested by the deflection of the face left and right. Only a few cases show mandible lifting or adduction, and a few cases can have the head tilted left and right.

4. Compensatory frequent blinking

A few can show frequent blinking. The more attention is paid to the viewing target, the more often the two eyes blink, both faster and more frequently, which is obviously related to mental stress.

Congenital nystagmus examination

The measurement of manganese and copper concentrations in blood may increase in some patients. Including inspection of seismic frequency, amplitude and intensity. Frequency, amplitude and intensity. These three indicators are the most important objective indicators for judging the degree of nystagmus and evaluating the treatment effect. Therefore, ENG is an important inspection item for this disease.

Congenital nystagmus treatment

Surgical treatment remains the main treatment. There are many surgical methods, including weakening, strengthening, combining weakening and strengthening of extraocular muscles. Drug therapy is currently a new research direction.