Kayoko Hasebe

Correlation between depth perception by three-rods test and stereoacuity by distance randot stereotest

Abstract Background: The examination of depth perception with three-rods test, in addition to visual acuity testing, is required to obtain motor vehicle license to drive taxies and trucks, according to the Road Traffic Act in Japan. The aim of this study was to examine whether the results of the three-rods test would correlate with the results of static stereopsis tests, used in ophthalmic practice. Methods: This study involved 54 normal subjects, 9 women and 45 men, with ages ranging from 18 to 25 (mean, 20.8) years. All had visual acuity of 0.8 or better with or without glasses or contact lenses correction and had no strabismus at the distant (5 m) or near (0.3 m) fixation. TNO Stereotest and Titmus Stereotest were examined at 40 cm while Distance Randot Stereotest was at 3 m. At three-rods test, a central rod was moved at the speed of 50 mm/sec forward and backward automatically against two laterally located fixed rods, placed inside the illuminated box. An examinee at the distance of 2.5 m observed the rods inside the box from a small viewing window and pushed a button to stop the central rod in alignment with the fixed rods. Erred distance (mm) of the central rod from the fixed rods as a mean of 4 measurements was correlated with stereoacuity in second of arc, measured by three kinds of the stereopsis tests. Results: The erred distance of three-rods test was positively correlated with static stereoacuity at distance measured with Distance Randot Stereotest (ρ = 0.418, p = 0.0023, Spearman rank correlation test) and also with the other stereopsis tests at near fixation. The stereoacuity at near fixation, measured by TNO Stereotest and Titmus Stereotest, was positively correlated with each other (ρ = 0.431, p = 0.0017). Conclusion: Three-rods test, examining depth perception, together with the response by eye-hand coordination, gave consistent results with distant static stereoacuity when measured with Distance Randot Stereotest.

Phenotype–phenotype and genotype–phenotype correlations in patients with idiopathic superior oblique muscle palsy

Idiopathic superior oblique muscle palsy presents, as quantitative phenotypes, vertical deviation and cyclodeviation in eye alignment on clinical testing, and superior oblique muscle hypoplasia on imaging. We determined ARIX and PHOX2B polymorphisms as genotypes, and analyzed phenotype–phenotype and genotype–phenotype correlations in 37 patients with idiopathic superior oblique muscle palsy. Vertical deviations were measured at upright position of the head and head tilt for 30° to either side, and angles of objective excyclodeviations were determined by image analysis on fundus photographs. Cross-sectional areas of the superior oblique muscle near the eye globe-optic nerve junction were measured by image analysis on coronal sections of magnetic resonance imaging to calculate the paretic-side/normal-side ratios. Among the phenotypes, the increase in vertical deviations elicited by head tilt to the paretic side, the decrease in vertical deviations elicited by head tilt to the normal side and the difference of angles of objective excyclodeviations between the paretic side and normal side were significantly correlated inversely with the paretic-side/normal-side ratios of the cross-sectional areas of the muscle (r=−0.43 with P=0.0084, r=−0.34 with P=0.038, and r=−0.43 with P=0.009, respectively, n=37, Pearsons correlation test). Fifteen patients with ARIX and/or PHOX2B polymorphisms had significantly greater paretic-side/normal-side ratios of the muscle compared with 20 patients without the polymorphisms (P=0.017, n=35, Mann–Whitney U-test). The patients with ARIX and/or PHOX2B polymorphisms had less hypoplastic superior oblique muscles.

Clinical factors underlying a single surgery or repetitive surgeries to treat superior oblique muscle palsy

Abstract The purpose of this study is to know clinical factors underlying either a single surgery or repetitive surgeries, required to treat superior oblique muscle palsy. Retrospective review was made on 246 consecutive patients with idiopathic (n = 212) or acquired (n = 34) superior oblique muscle palsy who underwent surgeries in 8 years at one institution. Idiopathic palsy included congenital and decompensated palsies while acquired palsy included traumatic and ischemic palsies. Clinical factors, compared between groups with a single surgery (n = 203) and two or more surgeries (n = 43), were surgical methods, sex, age at surgery, horizontal, vertical, and cyclotorsional deviations, and stereopsis at near fixation. Inferior oblique muscle recession on paretic side was chosen in about 60% of the single-surgery and repetitive-surgery group as an initial surgery, followed by inferior rectus muscle recession on non-paretic side. The age at surgery was significantly older, vertical and cyclotorsional deviations were significantly larger in the repetitive-surgery group, compared with the single-surgery group (P = 0.01, P < 0.001, P = 0.02, Mann–Whitney U-test, respectively). The 95% confidence interval of vertical deviations was 15–17 prism diopters in the single-surgery group and 23–28 prism diopters in the repetitive surgery group. Significant differences in vertical deviations were replicated also in subgroups of patients with either idiopathic or acquired palsy. In conclusions, the 95% confidence interval of vertical deviations, determined by alternate prism and cover test, would be used as a common benchmark for predicting either a single surgery or repetitive surgeries, required to treat idiopathic and acquired superior oblique muscle palsy, in the process of obtaining the informed consent.