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Letter to the Editor| Volume 378, P100-101, July 15, 2017

Three dimensional video-oculography and thin-slice magnetic resonance imaging in a patient with superior oblique myokymia

  • Ji-Yun Park
    Affiliations
    Department of Neurology, Ulsan University Medical School, Ulsan University Hospital, Ulsan, Republic of Korea
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  • Jae-Chan Ryu
    Affiliations
    Department of Neurology, Ulsan University Medical School, Ulsan University Hospital, Ulsan, Republic of Korea
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  • Ki-Bum Sung
    Affiliations
    Department of Neurology, College of Medicine, Soonchunhyang University, Soonchunhyang University Bucheon Hospital, Bucheon, Republic of Korea
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  • Tae-Kyeong Lee
    Correspondence
    *Corresponding author at: Department of Neurology, College of Medicine, Soonchunhyang University, Soonchunhyang University Bucheon Hospital, 170 Jomaru-ro, Bucheon 14584, Republic of Korea.
    Affiliations
    Department of Neurology, College of Medicine, Soonchunhyang University, Soonchunhyang University Bucheon Hospital, Bucheon, Republic of Korea
    Search for articles by this author
Published:April 26, 2017DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jns.2017.04.040
      Since superior oblique myokymia (SOM) was named by Hoyt and Kaene [
      • Hoyt W.F.
      • Keane J.R.
      Superior oblique myokymia. Report and discussion on five cases of benign intermittent uniocular microtremor.
      ], several etiologies of this abnormal intermittent contraction of the superior oblique muscle have been reported including trauma, tumor, multiple sclerosis in the brainstem, and vascular compression of the trochlear nerve [
      • Hoyt W.F.
      • Keane J.R.
      Superior oblique myokymia. Report and discussion on five cases of benign intermittent uniocular microtremor.
      ,
      • Leigh R.J.
      • Zee D.S.
      The Neurology of eye Movements.
      ,
      • Morrow M.J.
      • Sharpe J.A.
      • Ranalli P.J.
      Superior oblique myokymia associated with a posterior fossa tumor: oculographic correlation with an idiopathic case.
      ,
      • Fam M.D.
      • Scott C.
      • Forster A.
      • Kamel M.H.
      Microvascular decompression for superior oblique myokymia: case report.
      ]. Compression of the trochlear nerve at the root exit zone (REZ) with resultant focal demyelination is one of the hypotheses for SOM [
      • Fam M.D.
      • Scott C.
      • Forster A.
      • Kamel M.H.
      Microvascular decompression for superior oblique myokymia: case report.
      ,
      • Yousry I.
      • Dieterich M.
      • Naidich T.P.
      • Schmid U.D.
      • Yousry T.A.
      Superior oblique myokymia: magnetic resonance imaging support for the neurovascular compression hypothesis.
      ,
      • Fraher J.P.
      • Smiddy P.F.
      • O'Sullivan V.R.
      The central-peripheral transitional regions of cranial nerves. Trochlear and abducent nerves.
      ]. Flow Imaging Employing Steady sTate Acquisition (FIESTA) is a useful magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) sequence for revealing the arterial-cranial nerve contact and the brainstem in more detail [
      • Yousry I.
      • Moriggl B.
      • Dieterich M.
      • Naidich T.P.
      • Schmid U.D.
      • Yousry T.A.
      MR anatomy of the proximal cisternal segment of the trochlear nerve: neurovascular relationships and landmarks.
      ,
      • Hashimoto M.
      • Ohtsuka K.
      • Hoyt W.F.
      Vascular compression as a cause of superior oblique myokymia disclosed by thin-slice magnetic resonance imaging.
      ,
      • Kang S.
      • Kim J.S.
      • Hwang J.M.
      • Choi B.S.
      • Kim J.H.
      Mystery case: superior oblique myokymia due to vascular compression of the trochlear nerve.
      ]. The abnormal eye movements in SOM may be occasional or too subtle to be recognized during routine eye inspections. Therefore, the recording of torsional eye movements with the three dimensional video-oculography (3D-VOG) can be a useful method demonstrating occasional oscillations of the eye in SOM.

      Keywords

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