K 323
Videographic analysis of pupillary kinetics in Horners syndrome
H. Tegetmeyer
Indroduction: Additional to classic pharmacological pupil testing, the measurement of pupillary dilatation lag in darkness after the influence of constant light may provide an important contribution to the diagnostic delimitation of Horners syndrome from other causes of anisocoria. The aim of the present investigation was to analyse the changes in the kinetics of the reaction of the pupil in Horners syndrome as revealed by the pupil response in darkness to short flashes of light.
Methods: In eight patients with unilateral Horners syndrome of different etiologies, the changes in pupil size of both eyes after the influence of a standardized LED-flash were continuously recorded in total darkness (infra-red illumination) by means of a 2VOG video-oculography system (SMI Teltow, 50 Hz sampling rate).
Results: Differences between the pupils of both eyes in the contraction time and the contraction velocity after light stimulation were not observed. However, in all cases the instantaneous redilatation velocities were reduced on the abnormal side in the time period between about 0.4s and 1.0s of redilatation phase.
Discussion: The results of this study indicate that the sympathetic denervation in Horners syndrome exerts an typical influence on the postcontractional oscillatory behaviour of the pupil after short light stimulation. These facts offer the opportunity to use adequate phasic patterns of light stimulation in order to elaborate pupillographic parameters which may complete diagnostic test methods in Horners syndrome.
Clinic of Ophthalmology, Unversity of Leipzig, Liebigstr. 10-14, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany