They are low in cost and can be easily applied to a pair of spectacle lenses in-office to try out on a patient for several days or weeks, and refining the prism prescription is inexpensive and simple. Temporal GVRT was chosen for the IR and nasal GVRT for the SR. DSDiagnosis of Central Disorders of Ocular Motility: The Neurology of Eye Movements. Call our optometrists at 302-299-1286 or. While the size of divergence fusion amplitude was significantly larger in the group of patients with secondary disorders than in the primary group, the magnitude of this difference was small and the range of values between the 2 groups demonstrated considerable overlap (Table 1). Beginning treatment, the patient suppressed on Worth Dot testing and had no RDS stereoacuity, even with corrective prism in place. divergence excess eyewiki In the 2 patients with temporal arteritis, the rapid resolution of esotropia coincident with initiation of corticosteroid treatment, along with the development of posterior ischemic optic neuropathy in 1 case, point to ischemic injury of extraocular muscles as the cause of ophthalmoplegia. While viewing the Worth Dot test, prism is gradually increased until the patient reports fusion. . Questions with answers: 125. Stager DR, Sr, Black T, Felius J. Using the Mann-Whitney test, there was no significant difference in the size of esotropia in forward gaze at distance or near point of fusion between the groups of patients with primary and secondary divergence insufficiency (Table 1). of negative and positive fusional vergence. 3 Advanced Exercises for Convergence and Divergence Insufficiency It may be seen with excessive accommodation from uncorrected refractive error and very rarely with lesions at the diencephalicmesencephalic junction. Convergence and Divergence - Vivid Vision Divergence insufficiency associated with high myopia - PubMed Chaudhuri and Demer used MRI to evaluate rectus EOMs, pulleys, and the LR-superior rectus (SR) band ligament in SES. Differentiating sagging eye syndrome (SES) from other causes of strabismus is not always a straight forward task given that patients with SES may have risk factors for strokes or tumors. Visual loss in pseudotumor cerebri: follow-up of 57 patients from five to 41 years and a profile of 14 patients with permanent severe visual loss. Copyright 2023 Jobson Medical Information LLC unless otherwise noted. What is convergence insufficiency? From the Departments of Neurology and Ophthalmology, Marshfield Clinic, Marshfield, Wis. All Rights Reserved. It is reasonable to initially defer further investigation, including neuroimaging, in patients who have no other neurologic symptoms or signs. The cyclotorsion component of SES was present in 65% of patients. A secondary vertical deviation, on the other hand, presents when the patients eyes are strabismic but disappears when the patient aligns their eyes to the ortho position.7 Secondary vertical deviations are common in strabismic patients, particularly in those with intermittent exotropia. Recent trauma A Maddox rod was the tool used to assess ocular comitancy in this study, but other methods exist, including prism-cover techniques, the Hess chart, and the Lancaster red-green test. What is convergence spasm? Clinical uses of prism: a spectrum of applications. Godts D, Mathysen DG. Customize your JAMA Network experience by selecting one or more topics from the list below. The other patient with focal brainstem injury, a stroke with double vision, vertigo, and left arm numbness, did not have the responsible lesion identified by the CT. Biousse V and Newman NJ. Regardless of whether their underlying responsible disorder was established or not, additional neurologic symptoms and signs were readily apparent in all of these patients. Sometimes it is exacerbated by fatigue and improves with rest. What is the cause of convergence spasm? IRT. p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; line-height: 12.0px; font: 10.0px Sabon} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 10.0px; line-height: 12.0px; font: 10.0px Sabon} p.p3 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; line-height: 12.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #867245; min-height: 12.0px} p.p4 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; line-height: 12.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #b87c4c} p.p5 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; line-height: 12.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #b37749} span.s1 {letter-spacing: -0.2px}. An affected patient experiences double vision when viewing distant objects, but not when viewing objects up close. The first hurdle is ensuring your patient is comfortable with wearing spectacles. . 2014;35(9):1830-5. 2005;9:711. JSLevy Divergence insufficiency associated with high myopia What is divergence insufficiency? Patients and methods. In a Tranaglyph, the amount of convergence or divergence needed to fuse the image is pre-determined, i.e. Symptoms resolved in 8 (40%) of 20 patients after a median of 5 months. Testing for suppression and anomalous correspondence can be easily done with the Worth Dot test. Divergence insufficiency is associated with systemic and neurological disorders, so we must rule out any underlying conditions that may be causing it. REBaumgartner 2016. Esotropia is when an eye faces inward, and exotropia is when an eye faces outward. These studies were unrevealing in all patients. All Rights Reserved. Patients may also present with ductional deficits depending on the grade of muscle displacement. Rutkowski Success of prisms in the management of diplopia due to fourth nerve palsy. In those patients without an established disorder, additional clinical clues indicated the need for neuroimaging or additional diagnostic studies, independent of the signs of divergence insufficiency. Prescribing for some patients with intermittent strabismus can be done by using Sheards or Percivals criteria or determining the associated phoria as with heterophoric patients. The following information was abstracted from the medical records: current medical history, past medical history, details of the ocular motor and general neurologic examinations, results of radiographic and laboratory tests, and long-term follow-up of those cases that were classified as idiopathic. 2023 Stanford School of Medicine | Terms of Use | In divergence insufficiency, one or both eye(s) are unable to diverge appropriately to a given target. Br J Ophthalmol. enlisted 100 patients without strabismus, and readers graded the LR-SR band visible in 95% of orbits on non-fat-suppressed coronal T1-weighted sequences, 68% on coronal STIR sequences. 2012;49(4):222-8. What causes divergence insufficiency? 10. At distance, the American Optical vectographic slide is commonly used to determine the associated phoria. Accordingly, a patient with divergence insufficiency who has additional neurologic symptoms or signs should undergo a comprehensive neurologic evaluation that includes neuroimaging. They concluded that medial rectus recession is as effective as lateral rectus resection and suggested that double the distance angle of esotropia should be used as the surgical target. The mirror stereoscope is one of the most commonly used types. For example, the right eye might see a lion while the left eye sees a cage. Many affected patients experience spontaneous resolution of double vision within several months. Divergence Paralysis - Optography It is an unusual form of strabismus with esotropia and diplopia only at distance and single binocular vision at near. The two prevalent hypotheses put forth so far include altered cerebrospinal fluid flow in the posterior cranial fossa, and involvement of the abducens nucleus or infranuclear portion. Other associated symptoms can include asthenopia of panoramic type. The tool itself can be calibrated to work on increasing divergence or convergence, depending on, Our eye doctors at Wilmington Family Eye Care in Wilmington, DE excel in prescription of glasses, contact lenses and the diagnosis of a variety of eye diseases. Other training exercises include base-out prisms for near viewing and convergence exercises. Sagging Eye Syndrome. AIs divergence active? RJZee I reviewed the medical records of patients with divergence insufficiency that I had evaluated from July 1987 through April 1999 in my neuro-ophthalmology practice at a single institution. How is convergence insufficiency treated? In 2005 Thacker NM et al. No unsuspected CT or MRI abnormality was identified in those patients whose only presenting neurologic symptom and sign was double vision and divergence insufficiency. 1995, St. Louis, Missouri: Mosby. I prescribed glasses (+3.00 sph OD, +2.25 sph OS) for the patient, and she returned for follow-up care, eventually patching and undergoing vision therapy for her amblyopia. 4. MGeorge Neuro-ophthalmology Illustrated-2nd Edition. You can also use Random Dot Stereo (RDS) testing to determine fusion prism. 632. 13.120). Long-term Surgical Outcomes in the Sagging Eye Syndrome. All patients had undergone a general neurologic examination by a board-certified neurologist (D.M.J.). 6. A Maddox rod was also used to determine the near point of orthophoria in most patients. 130. A primary vertical deviation is the same in presence and size whether the patient is strabismic or aligned. While none of the patients had other symptoms to suggest giant cell arteritis or myasthenia gravis, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (performed in 7 patients) and acetylcholine receptor antibody assay (performed in 6 patients) were tested, and the results were normal in all. In many individuals with, Normalizing accommodation is important because. A stereoscope is a tool used to help expand fusional vergence ranges once a baseline has been established. Convergence Insufficiency - American Academy of Ophthalmology Medial rectus recession is as effective as lateral rectus resection in divergence paralysis esotropia. It can also be seen with head trauma, intracranial hypotension, cerebellar lesions, and a midbrain mass. In the remaining 17 patients who were still alive, the total duration of follow-up extended from 1 month to 16 years (median, 35 months). It is also stated that primary divergence insufficiency does not possess any other neurological symptoms as well as signs. It produces symptoms of asthenopia, fatigue with reading, diplopia at near, and intermittent blurred vision when reading. 133. J AAPOS. In 2015 Chaudhuri and Demer published a retrospective observational study about utilizing Graded Vertical Rectus Tenotomy (GVRT) for treating incomitant vertical misalignment. 12. Typically, patients note that they do not have any diplopia at near. More respect for connective tissues. SDiagnosis and management of divergence weakness in adults. Diplopia Developed in Later Life, An Ophthalmologic Approach A similar technique is used for rehabilitation: the patient is instructed to do push-up exercises (looking at an object intermittently moved in and out from the bridge of the nose) daily at home to decrease the near point of convergence.Divergence InsufficiencyDivergence insufficiency is characterized as follows: Comitant esotropia is present at distance but not at near. Ductions and versions are full. It is most often related to raised intracranial pressure or Chiari malformation.Classic causes of divergence insufficiency include the following: Raised intracranial pressure Chiari malformation Head trauma Intracranial hypotension (low CSF pressure syndrome) Cerebellar lesions Midbrain massAbnormal Horizontal Conjugate DeviationsGaze deviations are relatively common in large cerebral and pontine lesions (Fig. 3. Extraordinary symptoms equivalent to diplopia 2.3.1. Between the polarizing glasses and the patients fusional vergence system, he or she will be asked to either converge or diverge to fuse the two partial images into one 3-D image. reported a case series of 9 patients with vertical strabismus incomitant in horizontal gaze positions and cyclotorsion who underwent Adjustable small-incision selective tenotomy and plication. Eight (40%) of the 20 patients recalled such an event, including a viral pro-drome in 3 patients, minor head trauma in 2 patients, and hospitalization for an unrelated illness in 3 pa-tients. Recognizing TBI-related Vision Disorders - Review of Optometry Divergence insufficiency patients are often symptomatic for diplopia and asthenopia at distance and may present with a decompensated distance phoria. One patient was followed up for only 1 month, but her esotropia resolved during that time. Thomson Moller Primary divergence insufficiency is generally a benign condition. In some circumstances, individuals with divergence insufficiency will also suffer from high esophoria or esotropia, meaning the eyes like to sit in an inward position. What are causes of convergence insufficiency? GBurde 132. This concept was first championed by Bruce,6 whose reasoning for its existence was admittedly "guided by deduction rather than influenced by definite proof." Electronic charts are now routinely used in practice, and many of them have an available distance target for determining fixation disparity and the associated phoria. Similarly, another dense band is found from the Superior rectus to the lateral rectus pulleys (LRSR band). Chaudhuri Z, Demer JL. Divergence insufficiency patients are often symptomatic for diplopia and asthenopia at distance and may present with a decompensated distance phoria. Some patients report double pictures, but when checked with the torch, only one light is seen. Chaudhuri Z, Demer JL. Conclusions In normal cases, the ocular axis length was 23.5 1.0 mm. divergence insufficiency synonyms, divergence insufficiency pronunciation, divergence insufficiency translation, English dictionary definition of divergence insufficiency. 2011;31(3):206-9. It involves a specialty optical system and a uniquely created image book. Patients with non-strabismic binocular vision disorderssuch as divergence insufficiency, basic esophoria and vertical heterophoriacan often benefit from treatment with prism, particularly relieving prism, while othersincluding those with convergence excess, convergence insufficiency, divergence excess or basic exophoriaare better managed with other treatment modalities, such as vision therapy or lenses.1 An option for prism patients is prescribing prism to relieve diplopia and asthenopia and concurrently having the patient do vision therapy to attempt to decrease or eliminate the amount of prism needed. 8. Accordingly, I would recommend deferring consideration of strabismus surgery in this population for a sufficiently prolonged period of time to determine whether the esotropia might resolve spontaneously. In those patients with secondary divergence insufficiency, the underlying disorder was either already established or strongly suspected based on the additional neurologic symptoms and signs at their initial evaluation. 2013;251:16411644. Chang MY et al. Ghanchi created image book. She was able to fuse on the Worth Dot test with 12 PDs base-out and 3 PDs base-up OD. A few comments are warranted regarding some of the disorders associated with secondary divergence insufficiency. Common symptoms include: headaches; blurred vision ; double vision Keep moving to the next dot along the card, gradually getting closer to the nose. Bradley J. Katz, MD; Joseph L. Demer, MD, PhD; Robert A. Clark, MD: Sagging Eye Syndrome. Trans Am Ophthalmol Soc. Determining how much prism is required for improved fusion, or fusion prism, is another method for prescribing prism for your strabismic patients. To register for email alerts, access free PDF, and more, Get unlimited access and a printable PDF ($40.00), 2023 American Medical Association. If hypertropia persisted, further 5%10% increments of GVRT up to a maximum of 90% were added with monitoring of alignment. RVD states that esotropic patients of magnitude 6 to 20 PDs should be left with 4 to 6 PDs of residual vergence demand. More advanced exercises for vergence insufficiencies include Vectograms, Tranaglyphs, and Stereoscopes. Vision therapy exercises aimed at strengthening and normalizing accommodation can be found in Part 4 of this series. Schanzer Since most of the patients have good fusional capacities they do not experience double vision for near with that said these patient can likely manage without the need for intervention. When prescribing ground-in prism, high index lenses, plastic frames and frames that are smaller in size help improve the weight and cosmesis of the lenses. Through her full plus spectacles, she still had a 14 PD constant right esotropia and a 2 PD constant right hypotropia. The LR-SR band vertically supports the LR pulley against the downward force of the inferior oblique muscle to maintain the LR pulleys vertical position. Connective tissues reflect different mechanisms of strabismus over the life span. 2012;95(2):192-7. Although no unsuspected neurologic disorder surfaced during the period of follow-up in these patients, I strongly recommend that a patient with isolated divergence insufficiency be followed closely to detect, for example, signs of developing intracranial hypertension or abducens nerve palsy. When patients are spectacle independent and want to remain independent, surgical approach could be offered. The patient will wear a pair of polarizing, 3-D movies) to create depth within the image. [1]SES should be differentiated from heavy eye syndrome (HES) which is an association of axial high myopia, esotropia, and hypotropia. Three patients with primary divergence insufficiency continued to have esotropia at the time of their last evaluation, although 2 had shown improvement. Dr. Jenewein is an assistant professor at Salus University, Salus Universitys Principal Site Investigator for the Pediatric Eye Disease Investigator Group, a Fellow of the American Academy of Optometry and a Diplomate of the Binocular Vision, Perception and Pediatric Optometry Section of the Academy. No signs of orbital ischemia were present in the second patient. RMDiagnosis and management of divergence paresis. Also found significant displacement of all four rectus pulleys away from the orbital center, lateral displacement of the inferior rectus pulley and obliquely angulated lateral rectus pulley. Fresnel prism, however, degrades visual acuity and contrast sensitivity, and some patients may not find it cosmetically appealing.12 A significant decrease in visual acuity through the Fresnel lens can be seen at larger prism powers, particularly at those greater than 12 PDs.13 When trialing Fresnel prism, it is advisable to only place the Fresnel over one eye so that the patient retains good binocular visual acuity with the prism in place. AmblyoPlay is a vision therapy solution that is performed through playing therapeutic games and exercises on your tablet or computer for 30 minutes per day. MBSavitsky Many patients were first evaluated within 1 month of the onset of symptoms, far sooner than the expected time course for the spread of comitance to convert a sixth cranial nerve palsy to a comitant esotropia. He usually volunteers the infor mation that he has no trouble in reading or close use of his eyes. SEE RELATED: Binocular Vision Disorders: 6 Frequent Q&As Over a period of several months, the diplopia becomes more constant and is noticed while driving, watching television, and in other long-distance vision situations. 127. RMTomsak In fact, when the vergence system is struggling, the accommodative system often picks up the slack and becomes overworked, which can also play a role in some of the symptoms of eye strain, fatigue, and headaches. 130. In spectacle-dependent patients, a temporary Fresnel prism or permanent ground in prism are usually helpful in managing the double vision for distance without inducing diplopia for near given their strong near fusional capacities as mentioned before. It is also possible that the 3 patients who died and did not undergo long-term follow-up had some unsuspected neurologic disorder at the time they were evaluated. 3rd ed. 132. A Vectogram is a tool which utilizes specialized imaging along with the fusional vergence system to create a 3-D object. Divergence insufficiency patients are often symptomatic for diplopia and asthenopia at distance and may present with a decompensated distance phoria. What are the symptoms of Convergence Insufficiency? may complain of intermittent double vision (diplopia) when looking at something in the distance, frequent wandering of the eyes, headaches, motion sickness, and eye fatigue that comes and goes and can vary from day-to-day depending on how tired the individual is. The differential includes: It can be difficult to adjudicate small angle deviations such as HES and SES from mild myasthenia gravis, incompletely resolved sixth nerve palsy, thyroid eye disease, and decompensated prior phorias. J AAPOS 2014;18:370-373. Some of the most common introductory exercises for vergence insufficiencies include Brock String, Barrel Cards, Stick-In-Straw, and Lifesaver cards.