Role of saccadic analysis in the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis in the era of magnetic resonance imaging.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has recently been recognised as the most sensitive method with which to detect clinically silent lesions in patients affected by multiple sclerosis. Visually guided horizontal saccadic eye movements (SEM) were studied, together with MRI, in 57 multiple sclerosis patients. A very similar sensitivity was found for both MRI (78.2%) and SEM analysis (76.3%). Significant associations between peak saccadic velocity and brain stem signs and between saccadic latency and visual signs were observed.