EYE MOTILITY DYSFUNCTION AFTER SOFT-TISSUE INJURY OF THE CERVICAL-SPINE - A CONTROLLED, PROSPECTIVE-STUDY OF 38 PATIENTS

We investigated eye motility prospectively in 40 patients with a soft- tissue injury of the cervical spine. The initial oculomotor test, perf ormed within 3 months, was pathologic in 8 patients. The follow-up tes t in 38 patients, on average 15 months after the accident, remained pa thologic in the 8 patients and 5 additional patients had changed from normal to pathologic test results. At follow-up, all the 13 patients w ith oculomotor dysfunction had persisting symptoms, while 5 of the 25 cases with normal test results still were symptomatic.