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Biomedical subjects

I Gottlob

Publications and source records attributed to I Gottlob.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1999

Visual development in preterm and full-term infants: a prospective masked study.

PURPOSE: To compare development of visual acuity and binocular vision in preterm and full-term infants in a prospective study that used testers masked to subject's gestational age. METHODS: Seventy-nine healthy full-term infants, mean gestational age 40 weeks, and 18 low-risk preterm infants, mean gestational age 33 weeks, were examined biweekly between the 44th and 54th weeks of postmenstrual age. Ocular alignment, convergence, fusion, grating acuity, and onset of optokinetic nystagmus (OKN) were assessed at each examination. RESULTS: The mean postnatal ages of onset of ocular alignment, convergence, fusion, grating acuity to 1.6 cycles per degree, and OKN from temporal to nasal and nasal to temporal were, respectively, 5, 7, 7, 11, 6, and 9 weeks for the full-term and 12, 13, 14, 18, 13, and 16 weeks for the preterm infants. The mean postmenstrual ages of onset for the corresponding parameters were 46, 48, 48, 51, 46, and 50 weeks for full-term and 46, 47, 48, 52, 47, and 49 weeks for preterm infants. The onset of all parameters was earlier in full-term infants than in preterm infants of the same postnatal age (P < or = 0.0001). However, no differences were found when the parameters were compared at postmenstrual ages. CONCLUSIONS: Additional visual experience of preterm infants does not influence development of visual acuity or binocular vision during the first months of life as measured from the time of conception.

Aging↗
PubMed1998

The development of visual pursuit during the first months of life.

BACKGROUND: There are few previous investigations of smooth pursuit in infants. The aim of our study was to quantify visual pursuit in infants between 1 day and 16 weeks of age. METHODS: Eye movements of 97 healthy infants between 1 day and 16 weeks of age were recorded one to seven times with infrared photo-oculography. For stimulation of visual pursuit a square of 9.4 deg of visual angle with vertical gratings moved horizontally at a constant velocity of 7.5 deg/s. RESULTS: In the first 2 weeks of life, segments of smooth pursuit were measured with a maximum velocity of 7.93 deg/s, with a maximum gain of 1.06 and a maximal duration of 3.16 s. In sequential recordings no significant increases of velocity, gain or duration were found. However, the total time the subjects followed the stimulus with smooth plus saccadic pursuit increased significantly with age (from a median of 39.0% to a median of 61.5% of examination time). CONCLUSION: This study clearly demonstrates that smooth pursuit is already present in the first week of life. We found no significant increase in velocity, gain and duration of smooth pursuit segments in the first 16 weeks of life with our recording technique. However, the total pursuit time, reflecting attention, increased with age. The ocular machinery to drive pursuit appears to be in place at birth and seems not to be influenced by increased attention in the first months of life.

Aging↗
PubMed1997

A case of Erdheim-Chester disease with orbital involvement.

The Erdheim-Chester disease is a rare idiopathic, systemic, histiocytic disorder. To our knowledge, ocular involvement has been reported in only 16 cases. We describe a 55-year-old man who had symmetrical exophthalmos and several skin nodules on the arms and trunk. A magnetic resonance imaging scan confirmed the presence of bilateral, intraconal, retrobulbar tumors. An examination of the histopathologic features of orbital and skin biopsy specimens revealed xanthogranulomatous infiltrate with Touton giant cells. Further systemic investigations showed bone and retroperitoneal involvement. Three years later, multiple eyelid xanthelasmas developed in the patient. These findings are consistent with the diagnosis of the Erdheim-Chester disease. The patient's condition is stable under therapy with low-dose corticosteroids. His survival is longer than usually described in the literature.

Bone Diseases↗
PubMed1997

Infantile nystagmus. Development documented by eye movement recordings.

PURPOSE: To report on the development of infantile nystagmus in a patient's first year of life. METHODS: A case study using consecutive photo-oculographic and electro-oculographic eye movement recordings in the subject ranging between 1 and 12 months of age. RESULTS: Although no nystagmus was present at 5 weeks of age, square-wave jerks were recorded at 7 weeks, and a small pendular nystagmus was recorded at 8 weeks. At 10 weeks of age, evaluation revealed predominantly larger jerk-type nystagmus with increasing and decreasing exponential velocities of the slow phase. After 14 weeks of age, the nystagmus became smaller and was predominantly pendular. Between 7 and 12 months of age, binocular electro-oculography recordings showed conjugate pendular nystagmus typical of infantile nystagmus. CONCLUSION: This is the first report documenting that, at least in some forms of infantile nystagmus, eye movement abnormalities are not present at birth. Before the development of the typical pattern of infantile nystagmus waveforms (that is, conjugated pendular or jerk-type nystagmus with increasing exponential velocity slow phases), saccadic abnormalities (square-wave jerks) and jerk-type nystagmus with increasing as well as decreasing velocities were observed.

Electrooculography↗
PubMed1996

Head and eye movements in children with low vision.

BACKGROUND: Early childhood nystagmus may herald blindness, brain tumors, benign idiopathic motor nystagmus or spasmus nutans. Nystagmus unique to low vision was sought. METHODS: Videotapes and head/ eye movements of 18 congenitally visually impaired subjects were analyzed. RESULTS: Nystagmus of congenitally visually impaired subjects was characterized as small horizontal or vertical movements superimposed on larger oscillations. Small and large nystagmus movements were of pendular or jerk type. Slow-phase jerk nystagmus had increasing, constant and decreasing velocities. Fast-phase nystagmus changed direction periodically. Pendular nystagmus was out of phase and evolved to jerk nystagmus in two subjects. All subjects displayed head nodding, and one stabilized gaze with head movements. CONCLUSION: Eye movement recordings allow characterization and differentiation of subjects with nystagmus and low vision from other nystagmus forms.

Child↗
PubMed1996

Elevation deficit caused by accessory extraocular muscle.

PURPOSE: To report an elevation deficit, which was caused by an accessory extraocular muscle, in a 6-year-old boy. METHODS: Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging were used to confirm an accessory, fusiform, well-defined, solid structure in the retrobulbar space. RESULTS: A supernumerary intraconal muscle was detected between the annulus of Zinn and the posterior part of the left globe. CONCLUSION: This rare anomaly may represent an atavistic retractor bulbi muscle.

Child↗
PubMed1996

Vertical Duane's retraction syndrome.

PURPOSE: We report three patients with a rare variant of Duane's retraction syndrome. METHODS: Eye movements were recorded by electro-oculography. One patient underwent electro-myography. RESULTS: All patients showed V-incommitance and twitch abduction on vertical saccades. Electromyography showed lateral rectus muscle firing activity during upgaze and downgaze. CONCLUSION: Our patients showed synergistic innervation between the lateral rectus muscle and ipsilateral vertical acting muscles documented by electromyography.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

Visual acuities and scotomas after 3 weeks' levodopa administration in adult amblyopia.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have shown that both a single dose of levodopa and a 1-week administration of levodopa improve visual functions in adult amblyopic patients. In the present study, we investigated the effect of increased dosage and duration of levodopa on amblyopes' visual functions. METHODS: Visual acuity and visual fields were examined before and after 3 weeks of daily administration of levodopa/carbidopa as well as 1 month and 2 months after completion of drug therapy in a double masked-design. RESULTS: A significant increase in visual acuities and a decrease in fixation point scotomas were found. Changes were of comparable dimension to those found after 1 week of levodopa administration. Improvement of visual functions persisted 2 months after the levodopa/carbidopa administration was completed. CONCLUSION: The present study confirms previous findings of improvement in visual function in amblyopia after levodopa/carbidopa administration. However, increasing the dosage and the duration of levodopa did not enhance the effect in adults.

Administration, Oral↗
PubMed1995

Quantitative eye and head movement recordings of retinal disease mimicking spasmus nutans.

PURPOSE/METHODS: To investigate whether quantitative head and eye movement recordings can distinguish patients with spasmus nutans from patients with retinal diseases mimicking spasmus nutans. A patient with congenital stationary night blindness was followed up for seven years with electro-oculographic eye movement recordings. RESULTS/CONCLUSIONS: Rhythmic head movements and fine, intermittent, asymmetric, disconjugate, high-frequency, out-of-phase pendular nystagmus were recorded. Eye and head movement recordings of patients with congenital stationary night blindness can mimic spasmus nutans.

Electrooculography↗
PubMed1995

Spasmus nutans. A long-term follow-up.

PURPOSE: Nystagmus, head nodding, and anomalous head position are symptoms of spasmus nutans. This disorder appears in early childhood and is thought to be self-limited. However, the visual outcome of patients with spasmus nutans is unclear. The resolution of nystagmus has not been proven with quantitative eye movement recordings. The purpose of this study was to perform long-term follow-up examinations (mean, 5.5 years) of patients with spasmus nutans. METHODS: Ten patients with spasmus nutans were followed up clinically until a mean age of 7 years. Included were quantitative eye and head movement recordings. RESULTS: At their last examination (mean age, 7.1 years), visual acuity in four patients was 20/20 in both eyes, in five patients it was 20/30 or better in at least one eye, and in one patient it was 20/50 in each eye. Three patients had orthotropia with normal stereo acuity. The remaining patients had esotropia, dissociated vertical deviation, amblyopia, or latent nystagmus. All patients had fine, intermittent asymmetric, pendular nystagmus on eye movement recordings. CONCLUSIONS: Good visual acuity can be expected in patients with spasmus nutans; one third have normal stereo acuity. However, subclinical nystagmus persists until at least 5 to 12 years of age.

Child↗
PubMed1994

Eye and head movements in patients with achromatopsia.

The diagnosis of patients with rod monochromatism (RM) and blue-cone monochromatism (BCM) may be difficult. The relative direction and symmetry of nystagmus of the two eyes, as well as the existence or nature of rhythmic head movements, are not known. We analyzed simultaneous eye and head movement recordings of 16 patients with RM and three patients with BCM. Longitudinal examinations were performed in seven patients. Younger patients had pendular, intermittent or continuous oblique nystagmus with both eyes oscillating in phase or out of phase with equal amplitudes. Older patients had continuous symmetrical oblique jerk nystagmus with decreasing velocities in the slow phase. In two children, we demonstrated evolution from pendular to predominantly jerk nystagmus. Rhythmic head movements were detected in all children. Patients with RM and BCM exhibit a distinct entity of nystagmus and can be differentiated from patients with congenital or latent nystagmus. However, eye and head movements can mimic spasmus nutans.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

Effect of levodopa on the human dark adaptation threshold.

BACKGROUND: In several species there is strong evidence that the retinal dopamine turnover is influenced by retinal dark and light adaptation. In the human retina, dopamine has been found in amacrine and interplexiform cells. METHODS: In the present study, the influence of orally administered levodopa on the human dark adaptation was investigated in healthy subjects using the Goldmann-Weekers adaptometer. To exclude effects of levodopa on the pupil size, a second group was examined after pupil dilation before each examination. A third and fourth group were examined under the same conditions as the first two groups, but without levodopa administration. RESULTS: Levodopa caused a uniform threshold elevation throughout dark adaptation with undilated and dilated pupils. No effect on sensitivity was observed in the control groups. CONCLUSION: These results show a dopaminergic reduction in sensitivity during human dark adaptation.

Administration, Oral↗
PubMed1994

Eye movement abnormalities in carriers of blue-cone monochromatism.

PURPOSE: Although impaired color vision and ERG changes have been detected in carriers of blue-cone monochromatism (BCM), no eye movement abnormalities have been identified. Quantitative eye movements of three obligate carriers of BCM were analyzed. METHODS: Horizontal and vertical eye movements of three obligate carriers of two families with BCM with visual acuity of 20/20 or better were recorded using the magnetic search coil technique. Subjects were examined fixing in primary and eccentric gaze and during horizontal and vertical smooth pursuit at 20 degrees, 40 degrees, and 80 degrees per second. RESULTS: All carriers displayed fixation instability. In two subjects, fine-amplitude upbeat, jerk-type nystagmus was detected. Reduced pursuit gain was found in the carriers. The third subject had small downbeat nystagmus. CONCLUSION: Abnormal eye movements are described for the first time in carriers of BCM. The nystagmus is clearly distinct from congenital or latent nystagmus and is similar to the nystagmus reported in BCM. Because all carriers had excellent visual acuity, in BCM, nystagmus is intrinsic to the disease and can appear independently of the visual defect.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Prostacyclins in diabetes: an electrophysiological study.

Twelve patients with juvenile (insulin-dependent, type I) diabetes were treated either with prostacyclins or placebo in a double-masked randomized study. The electroretinogram (ERG) was recorded before, 1 day and 8 months after treatment. An analysis of variance and covariance was carried out to evaluate possible treatment or time effects on the a and b waves and the oscillatory potentials of the ERG. Mean values of potentials displayed a decrease of amplitude and an increase of latency over the follow-up period in all patients. No statistically significant difference between treated and placebo groups could be proven.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Visual remapping in infantile nystagmus.

The possibility that patients with idiopathic infantile nystagmus achieve spatial constancy by visual remapping was investigated by comparing subjective localization of flashed test targets to their absolute position in space and to their absolute position on the retina. Nystagmats first viewed a screen-stationary reference target that was followed by a test flash. A computer used eye movement feedback to precisely control the test flash position on the retina. All six nystagmats detected test flashes throughout their nystagmus cycle. For three nystagmats test flashes (total N = 48) were delivered to the same retinal locus that were, at different times, to the right and left of the reference target. More than two-thirds of such crossover stimuli were correctly located in space: when only those stimuli at least 0.5 deg from the reference were considered, two of three subjects correctly located all stimuli. Taken together these results argue that our subjects could see throughout the nystagmus cycle and shifted their visual map in synchrony with their nystagmus as an explicit means of avoiding oscillopsia.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Head nodding is compensatory in spasmus nutans.

BACKGROUND: Spasmus nutans is defined as asymmetric nystagmus with associated head nodding in childhood. It is not clear whether head nodding is a compensatory mechanism to control the nystagmus or an involuntary movement of pathologic origin. METHODS: The authors analyzed the relation between head and eye movements by simultaneous eye and head movement recordings of 35 patients with spasmus nutans. RESULTS: In 21 of these patients, the fine, fast, dissociated nystagmus changed during head nodding to larger and slower symmetric eye movements with both eyes oscillating at the same amplitude in phase and 180 degrees out of phase to the head movements, corresponding to a normal compensatory vestibulo-ocular reflex. CONCLUSION: These findings indicate that head nodding is compensatory in spasmus nutans.

Child, Preschool↗