Vergence disorders in patients with spinocerebellar ataxia 3/Machado-Joseph disease: a synoptophore study

Diplopia, a common symptom in spinocerebellar ataxia 3/Machado-Joseph disea se (SCA3/MJD) cases, is not always due to asymmetric ophthalmoplegia. We fo und a Japanese SCA3/MJD family, in which three patients clearly had an impa irment of divergence eye movement. We thus quantitatively examined the verg ence ranges in eight Japanese SCB3/MJD cases using the synoptophore test. A n impairment of the vergence eye movements was found in all patients, and t he vergence impairment pattern, but not the ophthalmoplegia pattern, was fo und to be compatible with the diplopia pattern. The diplopia in SCA3/MJD ca ses is, therefore, attributed, at least in part, to the impairment of the v ergence eye movements. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.