Neurosciences News

A 55-year-old hypertensive man complains of acute headache on the left and is found to have a left Horner syndrome. What evaluation is necessary with Horner syndrome and how urgently should it be performed? Are there any life-threatening etiologies of a Horner syndrome?

Clinicians may refer suspicious glaucoma diagnoses to neuro-ophthalmologists, according to a presentation at the virtual Women in Ophthalmology Summer Symposium.

Identifying asymptomatic optic nerve lesions in clinically isolated syndrome requires a lower intereye retinal thickness difference threshold than previously reported, according to findings published in Neurology.

Optical coherence tomography angiography can play “a pivotal role” in managing neurodegenerative disorders, though larger studies are needed to optimize its use for this purpose, according to findings published in Eye and Brain.

Before the COVID-19 public health emergency, I was excited about incorporating video visits into my practice. Multiple times a day I had patients who had driven for hours, many of whom had stayed overnight in a region known for expensive accommodations because of lack of access to neuro-ophthalmologists near their home. Others shuttled between the neurosurgery clinic, MRI scanner and my clinic, getting in their car and re-parking, re-registering and waiting multiple times. Everyone faced a multi-hour appointment, shuttling from waiting room to exam room to photography to exam room, before waiting for a physician running late because of providing care to patients with complex disease. The system was broken for patients and this provider.

A 45-year-old white woman was referred by the Tufts Medical Center neurology service to the Tufts-New England Eye Center neuro-ophthalmology service for 3 weeks of blurred vision in the left eye and retro-orbital headache.

Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare approved Enspryng to treat adults and children with neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder, according to a press release.

Viela Bio has received FDA approval for Uplizna, an intravenous treatment for neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder in certain adults.

A 42-year-old man was referred to the New England Eye Center for evaluation of binocular diplopia. Four months earlier, the patient developed acute-onset horizontal binocular diplopia that was present constantly but worsened later in the day. More recently, he began to notice left upper eyelid drooping. He otherwise felt well with no headache, weakness, difficulty swallowing, fever, fatigue or weight loss. He had been evaluated by an outside optometrist who prescribed prism glasses that were ineffective, so he was referred to the New England Eye Center for neuro-ophthalmologic evaluation.

A 47-year-old man presented to the emergency department at the University of New Mexico with 4 days of diplopia and bilateral retro-orbital pain. He had been feeling well until 2 weeks earlier when he developed a flu-like illness with fever, chills, myalgias, nausea and vomiting. These symptoms resolved without treatment. Subsequently, the patient developed double vision and ocular pain. On review of symptoms, he also reported new unsteadiness with walking as well as right-sided facial and eyelid drooping.