[Oculomotor, trochlear, and abducens nerve palsies].

Patients with oculomotor, trochlear, or abducens nerve palsies mainly complain of binocular double vision, but sometimes merely of blurred vision or vertigo. The clinical signs comprise strabismus, pathologic head posture, and disturbed saccades. The characteristic motility deficits are picked up by measuring the strabismic angles at different directions of gaze. Documentation of all three spatial strabismic components is advantageous. Nonparetic strabismus and orbital diseases are important differential diagnoses. Conclusions about the cause of a palsy can be drawn from the time course of double vision, the character of associated headaches, the patient's general risk factors, and the examination of vicinal structures. Imaging studies are indicated when the ischemic nature of the palsy is in doubt. Therapeutic strategies include prisms, occlusion, and eye-muscle surgery.