Posters

Longitudinal study of refractive error in infantile nystagmus syndrome

Poster Details

First Author: T.Wong UK

Co Author(s): Z. Mirza   J. Gan   M. Theodorou              

Abstract Details

Purpose:

Infantile nystagmus syndrome (INS) is a group of disorders that leads to rhythmic oscillation of the eye. It can be idiopathic, or can be associated with a broad range of ocular or neurological diseases. Prior studies have shown that patients with INS are more likely to be ametropic, however, the evidence has been contradictory with regards to the type and degree of refractive error. Also, few studies have reported changes in refraction over time. This study aims to investigate the prevalence of and changes in refractive error in patients with infantile nystagmus syndrome.

Setting:

Children (16 years old or below) with INS who attended the Moorfields Eye Hospital between 2001 and 2014 were identified and included in this study.

Methods:

Data of 57 patients were collected retrospectively using a standard proforma. INS patients with congenital cataract or albinism were excluded from the analysis. Spherical equivalent refractive (SER) error was measured at various ages (0-27 years); a mean of 10 measurements were taken between the ages of 4-14 years. Mean SER of the two eyes for each individual was used. SER data were categorized in age groups to allow comparison with the existing literature. Linear progression analysis and linear mixed model analysis were performed to investigate the changes in SER.

Results:

Hypermetropia was the most prevalent before 12 years of age. Up to 65% of patients aged 2-6 had low to moderate hypermetropia. At ages 12+ years, myopia became more prevalent, up to 62% of patients aged 18+ years had low to high myopia. Linear regression analysis showed that 50% of the patients had relatively static SER over time, whilst the rest had statically significant change (p-Value less than 0.05). Using mixed model analysis, it was found that SER at age 0 was +2.35 (95% CI 1.56 to 3.13) and it decreases by 0.19 per year (95% CI 0.24 to 0.14).

Conclusions:

This study suggests that the prevalence and degree of refractive error is higher amongst patients with INS compared to the general population between the ages of 0-27. This study also suggests that a proportion of patients with infantile nystagmus syndrome experience statistically significant changes in refractive error, prompting regular screening for these patients to ensure the use of appropriate prescription glasses.

Financial Disclosure:

None