S N Hof1, F C Loonstra2, L R J de Ruiter2, L J van Rijn3, A Petzold4, B M J Uitdehaag2, J A Nij Bijvank5. 1. Amsterdam UMC location Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Department of Neurology, MS Center and Neuro-ophthalmology Expertise Center Amsterdam, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Electronic address: s.n.hof@amsterdamumc.nl. 2. Amsterdam UMC location Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Department of Neurology, MS Center and Neuro-ophthalmology Expertise Center Amsterdam, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. 3. Amsterdam UMC location Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Department of Ophthalmology, Neuro-ophthalmology Expertise Center Amsterdam, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Onze Lieve Vrouwe Gasthuis, Department of Ophthalmology, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. 4. Amsterdam UMC location Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Department of Neurology, MS Center and Neuro-ophthalmology Expertise Center Amsterdam, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Amsterdam UMC location Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Department of Ophthalmology, Neuro-ophthalmology Expertise Center Amsterdam, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Moorfields Eye Hospital, The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery and the UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London, United Kingdom. 5. Amsterdam UMC location Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Department of Neurology, MS Center and Neuro-ophthalmology Expertise Center Amsterdam, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Amsterdam UMC location Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Department of Ophthalmology, Neuro-ophthalmology Expertise Center Amsterdam, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Internuclear ophthalmoparesis (INO) occurs in 15-52% of individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS) and is reliably detected by infrared oculography. Methods for diagnosing INO with infrared oculography and the association between INO and MS characteristics need confirmation. We aimed to describe INO prevalence and the clinical characteristics of individuals with MS and INO in a population-based cohort of individuals with MS born in the year 1966 (Project Y). METHODS: Previously described thresholds for the versional dysconjugacy index (VDI), assessed with standardized infrared oculography, were used to detect INO in participants of project Y. Clinical characteristics, visual functioning and complaints were compared between individuals with MS with INO and individuals with MS without INO. RESULTS: Two-hundred-twenty individuals with MS and 110 healthy controls were included. VDI values exceeding the threshold for INO presented in 53 (24%) individuals with MS and 19 controls (13%). INO was associated with male sex, greater disability, worse cognition and worse arm function in individuals with MS. There was no association with disease duration, visual functioning or complaints. CONCLUSIONS: INO is prevalent among individuals with MS aged fifty-three and related to clinical characteristics of MS. INO was more frequently detected in healthy controls than previous studies, implying that oculography based diagnosis of INO requires further refinement.
BACKGROUND: Internuclear ophthalmoparesis (INO) occurs in 15-52% of individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS) and is reliably detected by infrared oculography. Methods for diagnosing INO with infrared oculography and the association between INO and MS characteristics need confirmation. We aimed to describe INO prevalence and the clinical characteristics of individuals with MS and INO in a population-based cohort of individuals with MS born in the year 1966 (Project Y). METHODS: Previously described thresholds for the versional dysconjugacy index (VDI), assessed with standardized infrared oculography, were used to detect INO in participants of project Y. Clinical characteristics, visual functioning and complaints were compared between individuals with MS with INO and individuals with MS without INO. RESULTS: Two-hundred-twenty individuals with MS and 110 healthy controls were included. VDI values exceeding the threshold for INO presented in 53 (24%) individuals with MS and 19 controls (13%). INO was associated with male sex, greater disability, worse cognition and worse arm function in individuals with MS. There was no association with disease duration, visual functioning or complaints. CONCLUSIONS: INO is prevalent among individuals with MS aged fifty-three and related to clinical characteristics of MS. INO was more frequently detected in healthy controls than previous studies, implying that oculography based diagnosis of INO requires further refinement.