Journal of Neuro-Ophthalmology, March 1999, Volume 19, Issue 1

Acquired Covergence-Evoked Pendular Nystagmus in Multiple Sclerosis

Nystagmus seen only with convergence is unusual. We describe four cases of acquired convergence-evoked pendular nystagmus in patients with multiple sclerosis. The nystagmus was horizontal and asymmetric in all patients. Eye movement recordings in one subject showed a conjugate rather than a convergent-divergent relationship of the phase of movement between the two eyes. All patients had evidence of optic neuropathy and cerebellar dysfunction. Occlusion of either eye during fixation of near targets led to divergent drift of the covered eye and a decrease in nystagmus. Intravenous scopolamine reduced nystagmus in one patient. Base-in prisms alleviated symptoms of oscillopsia at near and improving reading visual acuity. Convergence-evoked pendular nystagmus may be more common than currently appreciated, particularly among patients with multiple sclerosis.