DOUBLE VISION

DOUBLE VISION: Excerpt from Differential Diagnosis in Primary Care

Most physicians know that double vision is a neurologic condition and may refer these cases immediately to a neurologist, but what about the cases of double vision with one eye closed? Surprisingly enough, this condition really does exist. Monocular diplopia results from dislocation of the lens (e.g., from injury and Marfan syndrome), the incipient stage of cataracts, corneal opacities, double pupils (from surgery or trauma), or hysteria. Fortunately for us but unfortunately for the patient, double vision is usually binocular and due to paralysis of the extraocular muscles. The causes can be recalled best by anatomically grouping them into those that involve the muscles themselves, those that involve the myoneural junction, those that involve the peripheral portion of the cranial nerve, and those that involve the nucleus of the cranial nerve in the brainstem and supranuclear causes.

DOUBLE VISION

1. Extraocular muscle. Using the mnemonic MINT the following differential can be developed:
   1. M—Malformations such as myotonic dystrophy and congenital opthalmoplegia belong here.
   2. I—Inflammatory conditions such as dermatomyositis and orbital cellulitis are considered here.
   3. N—Neoplasms of the orbit and exophthalmic goiter are classified here.
   4. T—Trauma suggests orbital fractures and contusions or lacerations of the muscles.
2. Myoneural junction. This suggests the important condition myasthenia gravis.
3. Peripheral portion of the cranial nerve. Recall of these conditions is assisted by the mnemonic VINCE.
   1. V—Venous sinus thrombosis (cavernous sinus in this case) is suggested.
   2. I—Inflammatory conditions remind one of syphilis and tuberculous meningitis, postdiphtheritic neuritis, sphenoid sinusitis, petrositis, and increased intracranial pressure.
   3. N—Neoplasms suggest pituitary tumors, suprasellar tumors, nasopharyngeal carcinomas, chordomas, and sphenoid ridge meningiomas.
   4. C—Congenital lesions suggest aneurysms.
   5. E—Endocrine disorders suggest diabetic neuropathy, a common cause of sudden extraocular muscle palsy.
4. Brainstem. Recall of these conditions is best undertaken with the mnemonic VINDICATE.
   1. V—Vascular lesions include basilar artery thrombosis, hemorrhages, emboli, and aneurysms. Migraine may belong here, too.
   2. I—Inflammatory lesions include syphilis, tuberculosis, and viral encephalitis.
   3. N—Neoplasms include brainstem gliomas, metastatic carcinomas, and Hodgkin disease.
   4. D—Deficiency diseases suggest Wernicke encephalopathy.
   5. I—Intoxication suggests botulism, bromide, and iodide poisoning.
   6. C—Congenital conditions suggest hydrocephalus and Arnold–Chiari malformation.
   7. A—Autoimmune disease suggests multiple sclerosis, postinfectious encephalitis, and lupus.
   8. T—Traumatic conditions suggest subdural hematomas, basilar skull fractures, and pontine hematomas.
   9. E—Endocrine reminds one of the increased incidence of basilar artery thrombosis in diabetes.
5. Supranuclear causes (including cortical). These recall a pineal tumor, the conjugate palsy of cerebral thrombosis or hemorrhage, the conjugate gaze in focal cortical epilepsy, and the dilated pupil in early herniation through the tentorium.

Approach to the Diagnosis

This is similar to that for all neurologic disorders and depends on the association of other signs. Isolated palsies of the third (oculomotor) or sixth (abducens) nerve without pupillary changes suggest diabetic neuropathy, so a glucose tolerance test would be done. As isolated palsy of the third nerve with pupillary changes (mydriasis) suggests an aneurysm and angiography is indicated. X-rays of the skull and orbits, a spinal tap, and CT scans would all be useful under certain circumstances, but a neurologist is in a better position to determine this. A cavernous sinus thrombosis is possible if the patient is febrile and has more than one cranial nerve palsy along with loss of the corneal reflex, chemosis, ecchymosis, and distended retinal veins. Treatment should be started immediately.

Other Useful Tests

1. VDRL or FTA-ABS test (neurosyphilis)
2. Sedimentation rate (cerebral abscess)
3. Tensilon test (myasthenia gravis)
4. Acetylcholine receptor antibody titer (myasthenia gravis)
5. X-ray of the skull and orbits (orbital abscess or tumor, brain tumors)
6. X-ray of the sinuses (trauma, sinusitis)
7. Visual field examination (multiple sclerosis)
8. Serum growth hormone, corticotropin, LH, and FSH levels (pituitary tumor)
9. CT scan of the brain and sinuses (brain tumor, abscess)
10. MRI of the brain (space-occupying lesion, multiple sclerosis)

Book Source Details

• Book Title: Differential Diagnosis in Primary Care
• Author(s): R. Douglas Collins
• Year of Publication: 2007
• Copyright Details: Differential Diagnosis in Primary Care, Copyright © 2007 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

More About Diplopia

• Back to disease: Diplopia: Introduction
• Next Book Extract About Diplopia: Eye pain (Handbook of Signs & Symptoms (Third Edition))
• More Book Extracts: All Online Books for Diplopia

More Medical Textbooks Online about Diplopia

Review other book chapters online related to Diplopia:

Copyright notice for book excerpts: Copyright © 2008 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. All rights reserved.

More About This Book: Title: Differential Diagnosis in Primary Care Authors: R. Douglas Collins Publisher: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Copyright: 2007 ISBN: 0-7817-6812-8

 » Next page: Eye pain (Handbook of Signs & Symptoms (Third Edition))

Rate This Website

What do you think about the features of this website? Take our user survey and have your say:

Website User Survey

Medical Tools & Articles:

Next articles:

• Eye pain (Handbook of Signs & Symptoms (Third Edition))
• Scotoma (Handbook of Signs & Symptoms (Third Edition))
• Diplopia (Handbook of Signs & Symptoms (Third Edition))
• Scotoma (Professional Guide to Signs & Symptoms (Fifth Edition))
• Diplopia (Professional Guide to Signs & Symptoms (Fifth Edition))

Tools & Services:

• Bookmark this page
• Symptom Search
• Symptom Checker
• Medical Dictionary
• Give your feedback

Medical Articles:

• Disease & Treatments Search
• Misdiagnosis Center
• Full list of interesting articles

Forums & Message Boards

• Ask or answer a question at the Boards:
• I cannot get a diagnosis. Please help.
• Tell us your medical story.
• Share your misdiagnosis story.
• What is the best treatment for my condition?
• See all the Boards.

Enter your search terms Submit search form
Search The Web Search wrongdiagnosis.com

Common Health Mistakes

Symptom
Checker

Search Specialists by State and City