Elevated visual motion detection thresholds in adults with acquired ophthalmoplegia

Aims-To test the hypothesis that in patients with acquired chronic bilatera l ophthalmoplegia, abnormal retinal image slippage during head movements wo uld result in abnormal thresholds for visual perception of motion. Methods-Five patients (two males and three females) with ophthalmoplegia we re included in the study. The average age was 44 years (range 30-69 years). The aetiology of ophthalmoplegia was myasthenia gravis (MG; n=2), chronic progressive external ophthalmoplegia (CPEO; n=2), and chronic idiopathic or bital inflammation. Visual motion detection thresholds were assessed using horizontal and vertical gratings (spatial frequency) set at thresholds for visibility. The grating was then accelerated at 0.09 deg/s(2). The subject' s task was to detect the drift direction of the stimulus. Results-Visual motion detection thresholds were raised to a mean of 0.434 d eg/s (SD 0.09) (mean normal value 0.287 deg/s (SD 0.08)) for horizontal mot ion; and to a mean of 0.425 deg/s (SD 0.1) (mean normal value 0.252 deg/s ( SD 0.08)) for vertical motion. The difference in values for both horizontal and vertical motion detection were statistically significant when compared with age matched controls; p <0.023 for horizontal motion and p <0.07 for vertical motion (two tailed t test). Conclusion-Abnormally raised visual motion thresholds were found in patient s with ophthalmoplegia. This may represent a centrally mediated adaptive me chanism to ignore excessive retinal slip and thus avoid oscillopsia during head movements.