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Patients can benefit from medical treatment of superior oblique myokymia
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Most patients treated with carbamazepine for superior oblique myokymia reported some benefit from the drug, although the effect may not be sustained over the long term, a retrospective study found.
Pamela E. Williams, MD, of Indiana University School of Medicine, and colleagues reviewed records for 20 patients treated medically for the disorder, including 18 patients treated with carbamazepine.
The researchers found that 15 of the 18 (83%) carbamazepine-treated patients had some degree of oscillopsia relief. Of these 15 patients, six continued to do well 9 months to 5 years later, four had experienced only transient improvements and five had discontinued treatment for various reasons, the authors reported.
Also, "one patient had sustained benefit from phenytoin, one from propranolol and one from propranolol plus valproic acid," they said, noting that no patients had benefited from baclofen.
"Overall, nine patients (45%) enjoy sustained benefit unassociated with adverse side effects," the authors said.
The study is published in the June issue of the Journal of the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus.