Correction of Head Turn in Idiopathic Infantile Nystagmus

Overview

Infantile nystagmus is involuntary, bilateral, conjugate and rhythmic oscillations of the eyes which may present at birth or develop within the first 6 months of life. It may be idiopathic appearing without visual or neurological impairment or may be secondary to an afferent visual defect such as foveal hypoplasia, congenital cataract, retinal dystrophy or optic atrophy. Aiming at improving outcome of head turn in idiopathic infantile nystagmus, comparison between the efficacy and safety of graded Anderson procedure and Kestenbaum procedure is essential.

Infantile nystagmus related abnormal head position is noted according to the axis, it can be anomalous horizontally (right or left head turn), vertically (chin up or down), torsionally (right or left head tilt) or in a mixed pattern. A head turn to right or left is the most common compensatory posture encountered in patients with infantile nystagmus with an eccentric null position. A prolonged head turn (HT) may interfere with the social interactions and the quality of life and may lead to skeletal deformities in the cervical spine with postural dysfunction and impaired movement pattern. Thus, the correction of an abnormal head turn is important to enlarge the visual field, to eliminate the possibility of abnormal contracture of the neck muscles and to permit an adequate vision.Various extraocular muscle surgeries have been advised to correct infantile nystagmus-related HT. Despite being the most common surgical technique used till today for correction of head turn related to nystagmus, Kestenbaum procedure has variable long- term results, limited success rate and involves four rectus muscles (recession/ resection). In graded Anderson procedure, only yoke muscle recession is done based on the amount of initial head turn leaving two untouched muscles.

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Eligibility

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Outcomes